Killer Joe (2011)

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Synopsis

Crime/Drama. Based on the play by Tracy Letts. In contemporary Dallas, a small-time drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) concocts a plan to cash in on an insurance policy by hiring a contract killer (Matthew McConaughey), but his choices soon affect his entire family.

Content elements

• Frequent use of the sexual expletive and variations, some in a sexual or aggressive context; frequent use of scatological slang, profanity, cursing, sexual language, and vulgar expressions
• Infrequent portrayals of gun, weapons, and hand-to-hand violence, most in a brutal context – blood, detail, and impact
• Portrayal of sexual assault – detailed injury and suffering, no nudity
• Brief portrayal of sexual activity – female frontal nudity, some detail
• Frequent breast, buttock, and female frontal nudity in a non-sexual context
• Infrequent portrayals of and references to illegal drug use – some detail

Thematic elements

• The attractions of crime
• The limits of desperation
• Family loyalties
• Deception and betrayal

Classification rationale

Rated R for brutal and sexual violence

Classification date