David Fincher's Mank: First reactions hint at landslide Oscar nominations

The first reactions for David Fincher's Mank are here, and they suggest that the film will score big at the Oscars. Mank, which marks the director's return to feature films after 2014's Gone Girl, was unveiled by Netflix to a limited crowd of critics and journalists on Thursday. 

The Gary Oldman-starrer follows the life of Oscar-winning screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz when he wrote Citizen Kane, and the problems that arose until the release of the Hollywood classic.

Mank, a passion project that Fincher has been working on since before he even made his feature directing debut, was written by his father, journalist Jack Fincher. The original screenplay reportedly underwent a lot of rework by David Fincher and Eric Roth over the years. Apart from Oldman, the cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, and Tom Burker.

The first reactions hint at possible double-digit nominations at the Oscars, for its cinematography, production design, costumes, and acting —  notably Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried.

Pete Hammond of Deadline stated, "'It's terrific' - the simple advertising line that adorned most posters and newspaper ads for Citizen Kane when it was released in 1941, applies to Mank as well." He said that Mank manages to be about so much more beyond the surface and glamour of movies — something that he states could be its ticket to the Academy Awards.

Clayton Davis of Variety was in awe of the film, especially the visual aspects. "Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, in his feature narrative debut, could make history as the first person to win an Oscar for best cinematography on his first movie." He also added, "On the visual merits alone, Mank is an impressive feat, likely to emulate past successes like Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity or George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road — movies that ran up the numbers with multiple statuettes in previous awards years."

Mank will release in select theaters on November 13, before streaming globally from December 4 on Netflix.