| nudity |
A hitman terrorizes and forces a woman to simulate oral sex on him via a chicken drumstick. [See Violence & Gore for more details.]
Full frontal female nudity is depicted but not excessive. Close-ups of genitalia are also depicted but contextually justified.
There are several extended scenes of nudity in the film, such as when a woman exposes her breasts in a strip club, a woman is depicted with upper frontal nudity in a changing room for a prolonged period of time, as well as a mid-shot of a woman's pubic hair.
The film also contains a sex scene. In this scene, a hit-man forces a woman to undress and change into a dress where full frontal nudity is depicted. He then asks her to masturbate him and later requests her to stand in front of him where he caresses her body and lifts up her dress, exposing her pubic hair. |
| violence |
Strong and realistic depictions of violence and gore are depicted but justified by context. Depictions of torture are also depicted, but not exploitative or gratuitous.
There are several scenes of strong violence which include terrorisation of individuals.
An example of a scene involves Joe repeatedly punching a man's face before hitting it several times with a tin can, leaving the latter's face bloodied and bruised.
In another scene, Joe gives a woman a hard punch on her nose (causing it to heavily bleed across her face), and then forces her to perform simulated oral sex on a fried chicken drumstick that he positions at his crotch. The prolonged sequence shows the terrified woman sucking the drumstick and is made to moan during the process, as Joe mimics reaching a climax.
Note: The Director's Cut version of 'Killer Joe' contains extended scenes of the simulated oral sex scene, as well as the man's head getting graphically battered with the tin can. |
| profanity |
The film features frequent use of expletives such as 'motherf**ker', 'f**k', 'dick' and 'p*ssy', mostly for emphasis[, in an aggressive manner, and at times in a sexual context. |
| frightening |
'Killer Joe' revolves around Joe Cooper, a Dallas detective who doubles as a contract killer. When drug dealer Chris has his stash of drugs stolen by his mother, he has to come up with the money or he is dead. Desperate, he visits his father, and he lays out the plan. Chris learns from his mother's boyfriend, Rex that she has a life insurance policy and the beneficiary is his sister Dottie. If his mother is dead, it will clear up his debt and make all of them rich. Thus, Chris hires Joe to do the job. Due to an upfront fee that Chris and his father are unable to afford, Joe keeps Dottie as his retainer until the money is collected and his fee can be paid. However, it turns out that the real beneficiary is Rex. |
