Killer Joe

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Killer Joe

TV-MA

2011

1h 41m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

80%

Tomatometer

169 Reviews

61%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

A cop (Matthew McConaughey) who moonlights as a hit man agrees to kill the hated mother of a desperate drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) in exchange for a tumble with the young man's virginal sister (Juno Temple).

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Critics Consensus

Violent, darkly comic, and full of strong performances, Killer Joe proves William Friedkin hasn't lost his touch, even if the plot may be too lurid for some.

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Tom Long

Detroit News

08/31/2012

B

If you like your movies filled with twisted humor, sexual perversion, psychological intimidation and sudden violence, "Killer Joe" is the flick for you.

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Joe Williams

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

08/24/2012

2.5/4

Watching "Killer Joe" to the bitter end is like playing the Pick 6 lottery and getting three of the numbers right. You don't win anything, but you still think you're smarter than all those other idiots.

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Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

08/23/2012

4/5

[Friedkin] has retained his touch ... all these years later. And in Matthew McConaughey, he has the perfect vehicle for madness.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jun 9

It’s brutal, violent, and at times savagely funny, a portrait of depraved lives so far over the edge of moral equilibrium they seem to have slipped into their own universe.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

10/03/2022

4/4

In Killer Joe, director William Friedkin reaches magnificent new lows as he descends into playwright Tracy Letts' world of southern-fried depravity, stupidity, sexuality, and possibly (almost certainly) madness.

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Mitchell Beaupre

Paste Magazine

09/23/2022

8.5/10

Killer Joe is pitched squarely as a rotted black comedy of errors, a cavalcade of one disaster after another from a bunch of fools tripping over themselves in the pursuit of the one thing that drives America: Greed

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Brad H

@spxman Jul 17

I guess from a movie standpoint it wasn't bad, although not my kind of movie. But why an established actor like Matthew McConaughey would take this role is beyond me. It's kind of like Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights.

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Craig W

@MCWaxman Jul 6

I should be able to give this movie a zero rating. I cannot imagine why Matthew McConaughey took this role. I cannot imagine why two people agreed to make this movie: Someone to create it and another person to greenlight it. Stunningly bad.

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James W.

@TooSoxx Jun 16

Solid noir with interesting characters and great performances.

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Luis G

@RT86381380 Jun 7

Stupid film from beginning to end; flaws throughout. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼 How anyone can give it anything more than a 4 out of 10 rating is baffling. An 80% Rotten Tomatoes rating makes me lose confidence in the quality of their rating system.

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William T.

@Will1 Jun 2

Horrible. What is McConoughy doing in this film? Perverted director garbage.

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ltbred1957 T

@RT30486055 May 26

A very strange little movie, and thankfully I do not care for chicken legs, so that didn't put me of KFC! Loved the ambiguity of the ending.

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William Friedkin

Director

Matthew McConaughey

"Killer" Joe Cooper

Emile Hirsch

Chris Smith

Juno Temple

Dottie Smith

Gina Gershon

Sharla Smith

Thomas Haden Church

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Synopsis

A cop (Matthew McConaughey) who moonlights as a hit man agrees to kill the hated mother of a desperate drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) in exchange for a tumble with the young man's virginal sister (Juno Temple).

Director: William Friedkin
Producer: Nicolas Chartier, Scott Einbinder
Screenwriter: Tracy Letts
Production Co: Voltage Pictures, Ana Media
Rating: TV-MA, R (Graphic Nudity|Drug Use|Strong Disturbing Violence|Language|Sexuality)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 3, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.0M
Runtime: 1h 41m