In the past 10 years, Netflix has released no shortage of genuinely chilling psychological crime thrillers. Whether addictive originals like You, Adolescence, Baby Reindeer, Ripley, or non-originals like Killing Eve, Yellowjackets, The Following, and more, the streaming behemoth continues to roll out intense crime dramas that captivate audiences, get in their heads, and often deliver explosive finales that live up to the gripping premise. However, nearly all of them live in the shadow of the 2017 series directed by the great David Fincher.
With two highly absorbing seasons totaling 19 episodes that were released between 2017 and 2019, Fincher’s fastidious filmmaking style, seen in all-time great cinematic crime films like Se7en, The Game, Zodiac, and Gone Girl, shines through brilliantly in Netflix’s FBI profiling series Mindhunter. Not only did the show improve in its second season, but it also earned a 97% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Best of all, more of Mindhunter may be on the way, almost 10 years after it premiered.
‘Mindhunter’ Goes Deeper Than Any Other Criminal Profiling Series
Based on the non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by retired FBI Agent John Douglas and co-author Mark Olshaker, Mindhunter centers on the founding of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in the 1970s. Since filmmaker David Fincher directed seven of 19 episodes and worked closely with the writers, the show bears the hallmarks of the director’s cinematic crime classics. The critical acclaim shows.
The story follows FBI Agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who are assigned to interview the most dangerous serial killers whom law enforcement has captured. In Episode 3, the two agents are joined by Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), a psychology professor with insight into the criminal mind that goes beyond Holden and Tench’s understanding.
Without naming the grotesque real-life serial killers, the show bucks the trend of dosing viewers with intensely gory, gratuitous violence and focuses on fine-combed analysis to get inside the minds of its subjects, understand what makes them tick, and use their knowledge to prevent further mass murder. It’s a borderline true-crime docuseries made with Fincher’s cinematic brand of expert framing, composition, pacing, and genuinely unnerving discovery. Anyone who enjoyed Fincher’s expertly crafted Zodiac must see Mindhunter.
David Fincher Hasn’t Closed The Door on Doing More ‘Mindhunter”
Mindhunter Season 1 spans from 1977 to 1980, and Season 2 takes place between 1980 and 1981. The first season drew nearly universal acclaim and holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score. Although Season 2 reduced its episode count by one, it improved in critics’ eyes, earning a near-perfect 99% critical approval rating. The show became such a hit for Netflix that a third season was considered in 2020 before being put on the back burner indefinitely. Hopes were dashed when Fincher declared in 2023 that the show was indeed finished.
But not so fast. In 2025, Holt McCallany (who has known Fincher since working on Alien 3 in 1992), told Collider that Mindhunter may have life yet. However, instead of continuing as a third season of TV, McCallany stated that there have been discussions about making three Mindhunter movies, each running two hours. While it’s unclear if Fincher would be interested in directing all three films or if he would pass his duties to talented series directors Carl Franklin (One False Move), Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly), and others, McCallany stated:
“I know there are writers that are working, but you know, David has to be happy with scripts.”
Regardless of whether Mindhunter is revived as a cinematic triple feature, the original series remains one of Netflix’s absolute, trend-setting best. Not only does it deserve its high critical praise, but looking back, very few Netflix psychological thrillers have delved as deeply into the criminal minds of their real-life subjects.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
