In recent years, the public fascination with true crime stories has skyrocketed. People cannot get enough of the series, documentaries, and podcasts that explore real-life crimes. There are also a number of amazing films that fall into this category, with Zodiac and Memories of Murder ranked as the best of the best.
Zodiac is David Fincher's exploration of the real-life Zodiac Killer murders in the San Francisco area in the 1970s. Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder deals with a serial killer case from South Korea in the 1980s. Both films are brilliant, but which one is the best?
Memories Of Murder: Lead Actor
Bong Joon-ho and Song Kang-ho have been frequent collaborators throughout their careers, last teaming up for the Oscar-winning Parasite. Kang-ho teamed with Joon-ho for the second time in Memories of Murder and gives perhaps his best performance as the violent and ineffective detective.
Zodiac also features a great performance by Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role, but he shares so much screen time with more colorful characters, he doesn't stick out as much. Kang-ho, on the other hand, is unforgettable.
Zodiac: Ensemble
Part of the reason Zodiac doesn't have as memorable of a lead character as Memories of Murder is that it is much more of an ensemble. Gyllenhaal's Robert Graysmith takes over the film in its third act, but the story is shared by the other interesting characters before that.
Mark Ruffalo is great as the famous detective at the center of the case. Robert Downey Jr. was on his way to a comeback with his excellent turn as an eccentric reporter. There are also great turns from Anthony Edwards, Chloe Sevigny, and John Carroll Lynch, among many others.
Memories Of Murder: Descent Into Madness
Both films explore the obsession of tracking a killer and bringing them to justice. And in both cases, it becomes clear that this obsession can overtake a person's mind over time. Those investigating the cases find themselves being swallowed up by it all.
This is an aspect that Memories of Murder does a bit better than Zodiac. We spend more time with the cops and their frustrations, so we begin to understand their descent, whereas Graysmith's obsession in Zodiac is less clear.
Zodiac: Humor
Though unexpected given the subject matter, both films carry a distinct sense of black humor throughout their stories. It could have been a risky move to incorporate levity in stories of true and grisly crimes, but both movies pull it off without being disrespectful.
Fincher seems to lean into the humor more than Joon-ho and the result is excellent. From the funny maternal relationship between the detectives and Graysmith's boy scout ways to Robert Downey Jr. being Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac knows when to lighten the mood.
Memories Of Murder: Horror
Bong Joon-ho is a filmmaker of incredible talent and can play around with a variety of genres so effectively. However, his horror influence is on full display here and he stages some truly scary scenes.
Neither film really spends too much time on the actual killings, focusing instead on the investigation. However, in these small moments, such as the scene of a woman being stalked in the rain, Memories of Murder is a straight-up horror movie.
Zodiac: Suspense
Fincher crafts some unsettling scenes of horror too, such as the opening killing of the two young people in their car. However, where Zodiac really excels is with its scenes of unbearable tension.
Again, this is something both movies do so well, but Fincher has a few more memorable sequences. The standout moment is when Graysmith visits a man who might be able to help him but soon regrets the visit. It is a masterclass in building tension.
Memories Of Murder: Message
Zodiac is a very dense film, packing in so much information that it doesn't have a lot of room to expand beyond the facts of the case. That doesn't seem totally necessary for the story it's telling but Memories of Murder does have the opportunity to explore some more interesting themes.
The film plays around with the facts of the case yet still delivers a thoughtful story. The message seems to be that we, as a society, could not possibly know what people are capable of and that you could be staring a killer in the face and not know.
Zodiac: True Story
Memories of Murder is able to tell a more complex story since it doesn't follow the facts exactly. Zodiac, on the other hand, manages to tell a fascinating story by sticking completely to the facts.
It is clear that so much research went into the film and it really helps to create a totally engrossing epic. It is perhaps one of the most factually accurate films of its kind, with moments that you'd swear are fabricated actually based in truth.
Memories Of Murder: The Ending
Both films deal with an unsolved case, which runs the risk of leading to an anticlimactic ending. Zodiac could be accused of having an ending that leaves viewers feeling unfulfilled, though that is likely partially the point.
However, Memories of Murder lands with a gut-punch of an ending. Years after leaving the police force, Detective Park Doo-man returns to the first crime scene. A little girl tells him another man was there not long ago and looked 'normal'. Park then looks into the camera, almost as if spotting the killer in the audience.
Zodiac: Unmasking The Killer
Though the Zodiac killings will likely remain officially unsolved, Zodiac does offer up a lot of theories and circumstantial evidence that could point to certain individuals. The movie stops short of pointing the finger at anyone in particular, but the facts are there.
For fans of true crime, this is the movie that will most likely scratch that itch. As pieces come into place and the evidence piles up, audiences will likely come to their own conclusions about the famous case.