When Texan drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in a ton of debt, he elects to have his mother killed for the insurance money. Enter ‘Killer’ Joe Cooper, played by a lupine, utterly terrifying Matthew McConaughey, and a whole world of trouble.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts (August: Osage County) and brought to the screen by the typically no-holds-barred direction of William Friedkin (The Exorcist, French Connection), who had made his own comeback of sorts with Bug, also written by Letts and starring Ashley Judd, in 2006 – Killer Joe sees McConaughey steal the show as a ruthless, manipulative killer who is always one step ahead of Chris and his conspiring family, portrayed in memorable performances from Thomas Hayden Church, Gina Gershon and particularly Juno Temple, who becomes the subject of Joe’s fixation before things really go off the rails.
Making great use of its Dallas trailer park setting and expertly balancing the trappings of the hard-edged thriller with southern fried black humour, Killer Joe is a brilliantly ripe slab of grand guignol that announced Matthew McConaughey’s return to hefty dramatic roles, eventually resulting in him winning an Oscar in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club. It remains the most daring, out there performance of his career.