Fight Club

Fight Club (1999) flopped in cinemas, became a cult film on DVD, and has been misread ever since. The narrator is never named. He cannot sleep, hates his job, and has tried to assemble an identity out of catalogue furniture. Then he meets Tyler Durden and they start a fight club. One thing helps enormously while watching: the film is not endorsing Tyler, it is diagnosing him. Fincher's target is what a life emptied out by consumption does to a person. Despite that, a reading in which Tyler is the hero took hold for years, and both Fincher and Palahniuk have said publicly how uncomfortable that makes them. Visually it was well ahead of its time: sick colours, impossible camera moves, single frame tricks. It becomes a different film on a second viewing, when the clues are visible from the opening scene. Good for: psychological thrillers, Fincher, and films that start arguments. Less good for: the violence is frequent and bloody and the tone is nihilist throughout. If you are watching with a teenager, plan to talk afterwards. The film does not explain itself and was never going to.