Zodiac

Zodiac is a film put together with enormous care and attention to detail, as director David Fincher was determined to make his reconstructions of historical locations as accurate as possible. It's also elegantly shot. This takes on a whole new dimension when one sees it in 4K. From the weight of subtle background work in the early dolly shot through the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle to the soft golden quality of the light in a Vallejo parking lot, and the stark ink lines of a Robert Graysmith cartoon, everything here looks better still - and in a work underscored by a real life mystery yet to be solved, that means that there's not only more to enjoy but more to explore.

There are two different audio commentaries to go with the film, both of which are informative. Robert Downey Jr proves to be an accomplished teller of tales, with some interesting insights into the deeper story. Curiously, though one can still tell that it's him, Jake Gyllenhaal sounds quite different when simply talking rather than acting.

There's an intriguing feature on the visual effects work in the film which includes some shots so well done that even when watching them in this detail, at this remove, you might not realise that they're not real. Advancements in computer modelling have yet to outshine this level of diligence in the work of skilled human beings.

What will likely fascinate fans of the film most is the extensive amount of new interview material focused on the facts behind the film. Two survivors of Zodiac attacks, Mike Mageau and Bryan Hartnell, share their memories, including things they have never said in public before. Mageau provides context to clarify that Darlene Ferrin, who died beside him, was in a polyamorous relationship with her husband, so the popular assumption that she had a jealous husband and a string of bitter exes was a myth. Hartnell remembers an astonishing amount of detail about his experience and tells a riveting story about the aftermath of the attack, how he managed to survive and how, in fact, his murdered girlfriend Cecelia Ann Shepard lived long enough to make a police statement before succumbing to her injuries.

A number of police officers also share their memories here, including investigative lead Ken Narlow and one of the foot patrol officers who may have seen the Zodiac following the murder of Paul Stine. There's also some archive footage with Melvin Belli which includes interesting details.

The documentary on prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen is fascinating in itself, and would be an interesting watch even if he had never been associated with these particular crimes. It may well convince you that Graysmith was right and he was the Zodiac, but the thing about this case is that if one drills down into enough detail on the other suspects, it's possible to become just as convinced that it was them. That's the hook that has kept the mystery alive for so long. As a study of the obsession it inspires, Fincher's Zodiac is a work of genius, and it has never looked better than it does here.

Reviewed on: 29 Jul 2025