A subtle film

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2018)

I have not read the novel, so I can only comment on the film. I was surprised to see that most reviews have been focused on the anti-consumerism message, which is certainly an aspect of the movie but is only the surface layer. SPOILERS AHEAD. If we ask ourselves why at the end of the film the Narrator kills Brad Pitt's character, this begs the question: was Tyler Durden a positive or a negative influence on the Narrator? If we revisit Durden's actions throughout the movie, it becomes increasingly clear that his influence on the Narrator is a negative one, despite Durden's efforts to convince him (and us) otherwise. Durden cleverly plays his card as a liberator, a knight in shining armor who has come to push the Narrator out of his dull existence and into a life of wild excitement and adventure. But Durden's reckless, dangerous behavior transpires through his every action: his relationship with Marla is nothing short of crazed, his violent tendencies are nothing short of insane, his building of an army for large scale destruction of property is nothing short of terrorism, and his sole goal is to dominate and influence the Narrator in order to ultimately bring about his ruin. So who is Tyler Durden?
I would argue that he is not just an alter ego as other reviews proposed, rather he is the Narrator's EGO itself. Our ego uses clever disguises and non-sequiturs such as "your life is too dull therefore do something that may destroy you just to feel that you're alive" to drive us to extreme behaviors that look enticing in the beginning but in the end prove self-destructive. As an example, just before crashing the car Durden tells the Narrator to stop trying to control things and to just "Let go!". A good concept in itself, this makes Durden appear almost as a Zen philosopher - only in this case Durden's intent is for the Narrator to surrender himself to him (Durden). Durden creates the perfect illusion of freedom, which is actually an abandonment to our ego's whims that brings our downfall instead. The ego fools us and blinds us by making us identify with it and taking us away from our true self. This is why in the beginning the Narrator isn't even aware of Durden's actions, he sees only pieces of them until Durden's identity is revealed when they meet at the hotel. This portrayal is pure genius in my opinion.
The end of the film is uplifting - the Narrator does achieve true freedom by killing his ego, arguably the most difficult endeavor we can undertake which requires tremendous courage and sincerity. The collapsing buildings are perhaps a symbol of the price the Narrator had to pay for taking too long to extricate himself from the clutches of his ego. David Fincher is an undeniable talent in filmmaking, I just wish he had allowed for more time to show the transformation that happened in the Narrator after killing Durden, although naturally every adaptation comes with its own constraints.