Today, we’ll look at two great Southern Gothic movies, starring Matthew McConaughey. Academy award winner McConaughey is one of the elite actors in Hollywood who has lasted almost three decades in the industry. His good looks have been, atleast in my opinion, both a blessing and a curse. In the early 2000s, as one would expect, he did romantic comedies, then challenged himself to take on more challenging roles.

Before we get into the reviews, it is important to look at definitions of ‘Southern Gothic’.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as:

“Southern gothic, a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region are characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastic incidents.”

Reedsy defines it as :

“Southern Gothic is a literary style that takes gothic themes and places them in a magical realist American South setting.”

Oxford Research Encyclopedia defines it as:

“Southern Gothic is a mode or genre prevalent in literature from the early 19th century to this day. Characteristics of Southern Gothic include the presence of irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses; grotesque characters; dark humor, and an overall angst-ridden sense of alienation. While related to both the English and American Gothic tradition, Southern Gothic is uniquely rooted in the South’s tensions and aberrations.”

Now, is Matthew McConaughey, the first actor that comes to mind when we think of ‘Southern Gothic’? Not in the slightest. How does it work when he is cast in such movies? Lets get into the reviews

Killer Joe (2001)

In addition to being Southern Gothic, ‘Killer Joe’ qualifies to be a black comedy and a psychological thriller directed by William Friedkin. The screenplay by Tracy Letts is based on his own play of the same name. As you know, I love movies made from plays.

To sum up, a dysfunctional trashy family meets a homicidal maniac and well, more hell breaks loose. The movie opens when a desperate looser, drug dealer, Chris Smith drops in on his trailer trash family. Most of the plot unfolds in this little unsavory little dump.

Chris’s unfaithful step-mother Sharla is married to his father, Ansel. Chris’s younger under-aged and special needs sister, Dotti also lives in the house. Chris tells them that Ansel’s ex wife, Adele and Chris’s mother stole drugs, that he took from his contact Digger and now owes Digger the money.

Chris suggests to the couple that they hire Joe, a police officer who moonlights as a hit man, to kill Adele and acquire the insurance money to pay off the hitman and the drug contact and share the rest of the money among the four members of their family. As one would notice, no character in the movie has even the semblance of a soul or any empathy even for their own loved ones.

Joe is brought it and demands an advance. However, his lustful eyes fall on Dottie, whom he takes for himself, with minimal objection from any of the others, as a ‘retainer’. Joe’s ‘implied’ seduction of Dottie is one of the clingiest parts of the movie.

All hell breaks loose after Joe goes through with his part, in killing Adelle. To the family’s horror, Adelle has left her insurance to her boyfriend. Now, both Digger and Joe demand payment. Then shocking revelations follow leading to a disturbing end.

This movie is not for the faint of heart but is morbidly funny, wild ride. There is one disturbing scene when Joe tortures Sharla with a Chicken bone. This scene has been edited out in some versions of the film. McConaughey and the supporting cast that includes Marc Macaulay, Thomas Hayden Church, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple and Gina Gershon have put in great performances making this a worthy watch. Ironically, the lack of basic morality in the characters is used to produce some dark humor in this distrubing plot.

I do have one gripe on this movie. While McConauhey did put in a great performance, his clean-shaven good looks did not make for a cold blooded pedaphile and killer. Maybe a mustache or an entirely different actor(Johnny Depp or Chistian Bale) would have made a more evil looking Joe. Either way, the movie still comes from me with high recommendations.

Fraility (2001)

Fraility is another, Southern Gothic horror movie, with McConauhey. Aside from having a common genre with Killer Joe, Fraility is a totally different movie, with McConauhey in a much different role from Killer Joe.

The story opens with FBI agent Doyle arrive at his office and being told that a young man with information about the “God’s Hand” murders. The man

While this is an intense, captivating plot, the director Bill Paxton, should have paid a lot more attention to detail to make the movie even slightly believable. Just consider these opening scenes.

In the opening scene, we see FBI agent Doyle arrive at and enter a dark empty building with almost no security. He simply opens the door and walks in. There is a receptionist in the dark watching the CC cameras but no guards.

It is late at night and the office is empty. We are often told that crime never sleeps. It somehow seems to have taken a break that night. Well, even in the 2000s I would expect the an FBI offices to be bustling with activity with agents swarming all over the place.

Doyle is then told that a young man is waiting for him. We then see him enter his office where a young man(McConauhey) is waiting for him, all by himself, totally unattended. These scenes were not convincing for me.

As Doyle and the young man who identifies himself as Fenton converse, the latter claims that his recently deceased sibling Adam is responsible for a series of murders.

He then relates an implausible bot horrid tale of his past. We are thrown into a flashback to 1979, where a young boy Fenton and his younger sibling Adam are brought up by their single father.

What seems to be a happy family life for Fenton soon turns into a nightmare when his father is revealed to be a religious fanatic and serial murder. Claiming to hear an angel’s voice that told him to rid the world of demons, the boys’ father goes on a spree of kidnapping and killing seemingly normal people.

For his horrendous deeds, the father enlists the two boys and forces them to join him and participate in the murders. After hearing the whole morbid tale, Doyle drives Fenton to Thurman, where Fenton claims his brother’s body is buried. The twists and revelations that follow and the unpredictable twist at the end, make Fraility a riveting movie. Bill Paxton and Powers Booth are also part of the cast.

In this movie, however, McConauhey is most convincing as the all American southern boy. He puts in a stellar performance that I will refrain from elaboration as it may spoil the fun for anyone who watches it.

So my final verdict is that you cannot go wrong with either of these movies. I could not, however accept McConauhey as Killer Joe, but could relate to his character of Adam in Fraility. Both movies are often available for free streaming from time to time on Tubi, Pluto on Youtube.