Review of Killer Joe (2012) by Dan H — 02 Jan 2013

This is so fucked up....but I love it. Chris and his father hire a professional killer named Joe to kill their wife/mother so they can collect her life insurance. When they can't pay the fee, the killer takes Chris' sister Dottie as temporary payment until they can come up with the cash.

The resulting film is a love triangle between Dottie, Chris, and Joe as Chris struggles with his feelings of guilt over his involvement in the affair, it's also about the loss of innocence. An absolutely extraordinary film with superb performances from Emilie Hersche (in my opinion the standout actor here) as Chris, Matthew McConaughey as Killer Joe and Juno Temple as Dottie, the only innocent character in the film (she generously offers up some full frontal nudity for us).

The film slowly grabs you by the neck of your shirt and tightens its grasp until you can't breathe. it's simply fantastic, that said it's not all that enjoyable due to it's dark nature but it still makes for a terrific watch.