The zodiac murders cause the lives of Paul Avery, David Toschi and Robert Graysmith to intersect.

One of the great American films of the 21st century, ZODIAC is a devastating portrait of obsession and ambiguity. Based on Robert Graysmith’s account of his years reporting on the Zodiac case, David Fincher’s 2007 epic tells the stories of three men whose lives are taken over by the pursuit of the unidentified Northern California serial killer. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Graysmith, a political cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle, who teams up with crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) when the paper begins to receive encrypted letters from a man claiming to be the “Zodiac”. Meanwhile inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) is leading the case at the San Francisco Police Department, where every lede soon becomes a dead end. Fincher’s childhood in Marin County inspired him to helm James Vanderbilt’s sweeping screenplay; the two spent months conducting interviews with eyewitnesses, investigators, and surviving victims to put themselves in the mindset of three protagonists. The film is a pinnacle of digital cinematography as well as all of Fincher’s best impulses as a filmmaker- ZODIAC remains his most stunningly crafted and emotionally probing work. -LUCY WALKER

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.