Seven Psychopaths (2012)
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An alcoholic writer and his friend find themselves entangled in a violent, meta-fictional web of crime and conspiracy while trying to finish a screenplay.
The story
Marty, an alcoholic writer in Los Angeles, is struggling to complete his new screenplay, 'Seven Psychopaths.' His best friend Billy, a struggling actor who secretly kidnaps dogs, tries to collaborate with him. When Billy introduces a series of real-life criminal figures and myths into the script, the line between fiction and reality begins to blur. As they incorporate these stories, the characters find themselves caught in a dangerous web of violence involving a ruthless gang and a mysterious serial killer known as the Jack of Diamonds. The trio must navigate a series of escalating conflicts while trying to finish the film's narrative.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Marty, an alcoholic writer in Los Angeles, is struggling to finish his screenplay, 'Seven Psychopaths.' His friend Billy, a struggling actor who kidnaps dogs, tries to convince Marty to collaborate. They begin incorporating real-life figures into the script, including the 'Jack of Diamonds Killer' and 'The Quaker.' The plot thickens when they become involved with a gang led by Charlie Costello. After a series of violent encounters and a kidnapping involving a dog named Bonny, the trio ends up in the desert. There, they discover the truth about the characters they've been writing: Billy is the Jack of Diamonds Killer, and Hans is the real-life Quaker. Amidst a drug-induced haze and a tense standoff with Charlie's men, the men must decide how to end the story. Ultimately, Marty finds a way to conclude the script with a sense of hope, while the real-world consequences of their actions leave them forever changed.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 110
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Martin McDonagh
- Writers
- Martin McDonagh · writer
- Cast and characters
- Colin Farrell · Marty; Sam Rockwell · Billy; Woody Harrelson · Hans; Christopher Walken · The Quaker; Tom Waits; Abbie Cornish; Olga Kurylenko; Željko Ivanek
- Genres
- satirical; crime; comedy-drama; black comedy
- Themes
- meta-fiction; violence; artistic obsession
- Tone and mood
- satirical; dark; absurd
- Premise and plot tags
- crime; comedy; meta-fiction
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, described as a darkly humorous and self-aware satire.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 82% · scale: percentage · review count: 216; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was shot in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree National Park.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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