While randomly browsing through Netflix on a lazy Sunday afternoon I came across Mindhunter. Seeing that it’s created by David Fincher and knowing that my Netflix subscription is going to end soon, I decided to give it a go. And boy oh boy, what a marvelous piece of a gem this show is.
Based on a true story, Mindhunter revolves around two FBI agents- Detective Holden Ford ( remarkably played by Jonathon Groff) and detective Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who start interviewing convicted psychopathic killers in order to gauge their motives; not only to figure out why they did what they did but why they did it the way they did. They go on a spree of interviews of convicted criminals to reverse engineer the entire process of criminal psychology.
Mindhunter delves deep into the early days of criminal psychology and serial killers before “Serial Killers” was even a term. And how these interviews are still helping FBI agents to catch criminals.
In a true David Fincher style, the show starts slow and takes all its time to develop the main characters(rightly so). The first episode doesn’t even let you know what the show is about but then the eerie narrative slowly takes over and you are gradually introduced to characters which will leave a haunting impact on you for days to come. The narrative arc is very similar to one of the other Fincher’s classic crime drama ‘Zodiac’.
Every actor playing the real-life killers is so haunting that the performances will stay with you. And though their performances are terrifying, killers like Brudos and Kemper are so charming and empathetic when they share their troubled childhood that you might end up feeling bad for them, just like special agent Holden eventually does.
What makes Mindhunter different is that it intertwines the agent’s own personal lives and shows a gradual shift in the characteristics of Holden and Tench because of their interactions with these criminals.
The show is slow and takes all the time to develop the characters. And ironically, this crime drama involves no crime scene, no violence, and no action-packed sequences. So, if you are looking for an adrenaline pumping action drama with thrilling car chases then Mindhunter is not your cup of tea.
All in all, just like 2016’s ‘Stranger Things‘ came out of nowhere and blew us away, similarly, Mindhunter is fresh, borderline disturbing and remarkably directed show which blew most of us away (if not all). Time to renew my subscription and wait for season 2.
