Masterfully done!

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 2016)

A brain-racking suspense, an unconventional yet intriguing story line; this part psychological, part macho thriller is nothing short of a phenomenon.
When a materialistic insomniac suddenly loses everything due to a fire; his life changes for the (seemingly) worse, as he moves into a abandoned house with Tyler (Brad Pitt), whom he met on a flight. With him, he learns that the macho in him loves to fight, irrespective of physical pain; and he uses fist fighting as a way to get away from the stress of day-to-day life. Turns out that they weren't the only one, and he finds himself the co-founder of the Fight Club; which soon spreads across cities. They bring in more people into fight club, and soon begin to change it into an anti-establishment group. Meanwhile, he realizes that he is being sidelined in the newer anti-corporate goals of the club. But a sudden disappearance of Tyler sends him traveling over the country looking for him.
The sheer beauty of the movie lies in the fact that it is pretending to be a movie about society, while hiding a whole story. Admittedly this is not a new concept, but the movie does a great job keeping it full of suspense, and revealing it as a masterstroke.
The motivation behind Tyler's actions are reminiscent of the anti-corporate story of the TV show Mr. Robot. The feeling of being happy in a fake society, clinging to materialistic supports to gain happiness; and how the corporate world tries to bind us into this pursuit of materialism. And while we're on the topic, the similarity with Mr. Robot does not end at that. Saying any more would be a spoiler for Mr. Robot. The movie also shows how the narrator was dependent on Tyler, begging on his I-don't-care attitude to take decisions for him which were too difficult or wrong, according to the narrator's perceived identity as a 'normal' person.
The direction of the movie is to credit for executing the tricky theme; but to end this review without remarking on Edward Norton's (the Narrator) exceptional acting would be a shame. His acting lent character, but also made the reveal much more of a surprise.
To conclude, this movie would be one of the best ones I've seen with such a theme. Masterfully done!