Killer Joe
From master filmmaker William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection), a Texan crime-thriller starring Matthew McConaughey as a hitman hired to kill his client's own mother for a life insurance windfall.
When Chris (Emile Hirsch, The Darkest Hour) has his stash stolen by his mother, he needs a way to pay the higher-ups $6,000 before they send him to an early grave. In both an act of revenge and desperation, he hires 'Killer Joe' (McConaughey), a full-time cop and recreational gun-for-hire, to put a bullet in his mother and claim the $50,000 insurance. However, Joe isn't cheap. Demanding a promise of payment, he forces Chris to put his sister Dottie (Juno Temple, The Three Musketeers), to whom Joe's taken a disturbing shine, up for collateral.
Less2011Rating: R18+, for graphic disturbing content involving violence and sexuality, and a scene of brutality103 minsUSA
DramaThrillerFestival & Independent
- Director:
- William Friedkin ('The French Connection', 'The Exorcist', 'The Hunted')
- Writer:
- Tracy Letts
- Cast:
- Matthew McConaugheyEmile HirschJuno TempleThomas Haden ChurchGina Gershon
Killer Joe | Awards
Winner of the Mouse d'Oro at Venice Film Festival 2012.
Killer Joe | Reviews
80%172 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
We Got This Covered
Killer Joe will both infuriate and impress, but when it impresses there is nothing quite like it.
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Film School Rejects
Killer Joe is trash. Not bad trash. Not pretentious trash. Just plain old ugly, funny, and sophisticated trash.
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Hollywood Reporter
A likeably unpleasant slice of adults-only Texas noir, which aims at the funnybone as much as the jugular...
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Empire Magazine
Thanks to McConaughey's oily power and Friedkin's unflinching purpose it's a compelling beast.
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Little White Lies
Lovely to see Friedkin on such mischievous form and McConaughey finally revealing his dark side.
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Slant Magazine
Throughout, the actors grippingly and fearlessly delight in etching their characters’ incompatible agendas.
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A.V. Club
Friedkin’s pedal-to-the-metal approach to genre filmmaking... gives Killer Joe the energy and breakneck pace Letts’ work demands.
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The New York Times
Lurches from realism to corn-pone absurdism and exploitation-cinema surrealism.
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Vulture
Friedkin makes no attempt to soften the characters' monstrousness, and thank hell for that.
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Roger Ebert
Killer Joe is one hell of a movie. It left me speechless. I can't say I loved it. I can't say I hated it.
Full reviewKiller Joe | Release Details
Killer Joe is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and SBS On Demand and Prime Video Store.