David Fincher’s Films Ranked

With David Fincher’s The Killer Teased in a new image, we’re ranking the legendary director’s entire filmography. Since debuting with 1993’s Alien 3, he’s released three films a decade, all the way up until his most recent, 2020’s Mank. Let’s find out Fincher's best, starting with his worst.

The Films (from worst to best)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is a man that ages backwards. That’s the premise of Fincher’s 2008 romantic drama that made waves thanks to its remarkable de-aging tech which took years off Pitt (and added some on, too). It, along with Cate Blanchett’s Daisy, is the only highlight in this otherwise overlong, overly sentimental plod.

The Game (1997)

Michael Douglas plays Nicholas Van Orton, a rich banker lured into a real-life game by his estranged brother Conrad (Sean Penn). The game grows increasingly personal, however, and Van Orton begins fearing for his life. It’s a slow but solid thriller kept chugging along with a gripping central mystery and typically robust performances by Douglas and Penn in their ‘90s primes.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The 2009 Swedish thriller hardly needed a Hollywood remake, but if anyone was fit for the job, it's Fincher. He contributes a signature lurid style, elevating the dark themes of murder and revenge, and hanging it on a committed performance from Rooney Mara (Lisbeth Salander). Daniel Craig is also at his determined best as disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist.

Alien 3 (1992)

Unfairly maligned when it released, Alien 3 has since remerged into the sci-fi horror consciousness. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor when her ship crash lands near a maximum security prison. Worse than inmates, though, is the arrival of a Xenomorph, which Ripley and the men must battle without weapons or modern technology. Almost unbearably nihilistic, it’s nonetheless a bold take on the franchise.

Gone Girl (2014)

When his glamorous wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) goes missing, writer Nick (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime suspect. The ensuing media frenzy cracks apart their relationship and reveals some seriously dark truths. Fincher’s direction is slick in this curt, creepy, and propulsive tale of domestic doom.

Mank (2020)

Fincher’s most recent film is this sharply written revelation of Citizen Kane’s production. It stars Gary Oldman as Herman J. Mankiewicz, an alcoholic writer tasked with delivering his screenplay before a looming deadline imposed by both the studio, and Orson Welles himself (Tom Burke). Razor-ship and dripping in wit, it’s as much a love letter to screenwriting as it is an engrossing historical drama.

Fight Club (1999)

Edward Norton is the troubled office drone who falls in with mysterious soap salesman Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and his violent underground club. Here, men gather to escape their mundane lives by fighting each other. This layered adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel is an incendiary study on consumerism and masculinity with one hell of a twist ending.

Seven (1995)

The film that established Fincher and spawned a horde of homages, not least Matt Reeves’ 2022 The Batman. Seven stars Morgan Freeman as Detective William Somerset, whose retirement plans are scuppered when he and fresh recruit David Mills (Brad Pitt) uncover evidence of a deranged serial killer (Kevin Spacey). Enthralling, gruesome, and with a final act that will nail you to your seat.

Panic Room (2002)

A forgotten classic, Panic Room is what would happen if David Fincher directed Home Alone. The core conceit is simple: a brutal home invasion sees Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) flee into a panic room. Their intruders, however, only want what’s inside. Packed full of suspense, Panic Room plays with the premise beautifully, taking full, imaginative advantage of its single setting restriction.

Zodiac (2007)

An epic thriller based on the real-life manhunt for San Francisco’s Zodiac, a serial killer who tormented the city in the late 1960s and 1970s. Fincher’s film spans both decades, following reporters Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr.’s obsessive hunt for the man behind the murders. It blends police procedural with newsroom drama in a slick, smart, and subdued masterclass that keeps you guessing right up until the end.

The Social Network (2010)

It may take place in the early noughties and detail the inception of a website almost unrecognizable now, but The Social Network feels as modern as ever. It follows computer genius Mark Zuckerberg’s (Jesse Eisenberg) road to becoming the youngest billionaire ever through his website that changed everything, Facebook. Fincher combines with esteemed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin in an absorbing, meticulous, and extraordinarily engaging cautionary tale of conflicted genius.