Zodiac

On the 4th July 1969, a letter arrives on the desk of the head of San Francisco Chronicle: the writer calls himself Zodiac and claims to be the murderer of a young couple in Vallejo, CA.

He wants the letter and the enclosed ciphered code to be published on the front page, or there will be more murders.

The letter is published but the faceless killer keeps murdering at random for ten years, then disappears: the mystery remains unsolved.

SF Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith and reporter Paul Avery get more and more obsessed with the case and their actions are occasionally a hindrance to detective David Toschi, himself obsessed by the serial killer. When the trails get cold, the cartoonist starts investigating details that the police hadn’t taken into consideration and reaches a plausible solution of the enigma – but without proof.

Based on the books by Graysmith, David Fincher’s richly detailed account of the unsuccessful hunt for Zodiac is a masterpiece of tension and frustration.

The director plays with the audience as the killer plays with the police and the press. Although the murder scenes are graphic and excellent in terms of suspense, the film focuses on the “journey” that the three protagonists take into the murder case - only to fray their nerves, break homes, and drop down a spiral of self-abuse.

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