Director William Friedkin’s Killer Joe is coming to theaters with an NC-17 rating after Friedkin opted not to make the cuts required by the MPAA in order to reduce that rating to the less restrictive but still adult R rating. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, and Thomas Haden Church, Killer Joe was adapted by Tracy Letts for the screen and is based on Letts’ play of the same name.
The Plot:
When 22-year-old Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in debt to a drug lord, he hires a hit man to dispatch his mother, whose $50,000 life insurance policy benefits his sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris finds Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a creepy, crazy Dallas cop who moonlights as a contract killer. When Chris can’t pay Joe upfront, Joe sets his sight on Dottie as collateral for the job. The contract killer and his hostage develop an unusual bond. Like from a modern-day, twisted fairy tale, “Killer Joe” Cooper becomes the prince to Dottie’s Cinderella.
Watch the trailer:
Killer Joe will be released on July 27, 2012.
