From this week onwards, I shall never hear How Soon Is Now? without seeing Michael Fassbender shoot a prostitute through the chest with a sniper rifle.
Itās far from the only song by the indie icons in director David Fincherās slick, brutal and utterly brilliant action movie. Fassbenderās nameless hitman is a stone-cold Smiths nut and uses a compilation of their hits to get his heart rate down as his finger twitches on the trigger.
Itās surprising how well Morrisseyās tortured warblings and Marrās wailing guitars fit Fincherās meticulously staged killings.
The killer is also rather fond of the sound of his own voice. In an ingenious opening, heās sitting in a Paris office building, patiently waiting for his victim to appear in the window of the five-star hotel across the street.
To kill time, heās outlining his philosophy in a hard-boiled interior monologue. āAnticipate, donāt improviseā and āForbid empathyā are his two favourite maxims. Though the film is not brimming with emotion, you may still find yourself rooting for this unusual hero.
But, when he shoots his markās female companion by mistake, the killer becomes the target as his client seeks to erase all connections to the failed assassination.
The hitmanās plan is to get there first. A globe-trotting mission takes him to the Dominican Republic, Florida and New Orleans to track down fixers, rival hitmen and the client.
An icy encounter with Tilda Swinton and a bruising altercation with Sala Bakerās thug are thrillingly staged.
The latter takes place as The Antiques Roadshow plays on a TV set, forever linking brutal violence to Fiona Bruce.
The Killer, Cert 15, On Netflix now