Controversial film caused walk outs at press screenings
Last month, we reported that IFC Films had picked up the US distribution rights for The Killer Inside Me, the new thriller based on Jim Thompsonâs pulp novel directed by Michael Winterbottom.
The movie stars Casey Affleck as the murderous small-town Texas sheriff Lou Ford, and features an all-star cast with Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman, Ned Beatty and Elias Koteas.
When screened at Sundance, the film sparked a string of controversy due to its explicit violent, sexual content and now it’s garnered a similar response at the Berlin Film Festival causing members of the audience to walk out during press screenings.
Director Winterbottom defended the film during a press conference this week. “For me that was the point of the violence in the film in a way — it is something very repulsive. In terms of how we depicted it, we were just trying to make it as close to the book as possible. The book is very shocking.”
The most explicit violence comes early on in the movie when Affleck’s character decides to beat his prostitute girlfriend Joyce (Alba) to death in order to frame an old enemy and take his money. Little is left to the imagination as Ford punches Joyce repeatedly in the face until he presumes her dead.
“Lou Ford is a very weak person who’s messed up by his childhood and he has all sorts of insecurities and in the end he wants to destroy himself,” said Winterbottom. “I think anyone watching this film saying this in some way supports or encourages violence is just watching the film in a very perverse way.”
No release date is set yet, but IFC Films rolled out the controversial Antichrist last year, so expect a theatrical release on The Killer Inside Me as well.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
