Movie Review: Natural Born Killers (1994)

★★★★★

Natural Born Killers is a total mind trip. It’s wild, intense, and makes you think about how crazy the media can be. Definitely not your average movie.

Rod W.

Mississippi

Some films are controversial because they push the boundaries of taste. Others because they push the boundaries of form. Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers does both, and still sparks arguments decades later.

As a reviewer for BoxReview.com, I’ve always found this film fascinating because it’s less about the killers themselves and more about us, the audience, and the way we consume violence. It’s outrageous, messy, sometimes exhausting, and completely unforgettable.

The Premise: Road Trip Through the Apocalypse

The film follows Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis), two lovers on a cross-country killing spree. They’re brutal, charismatic, and inseparable, leaving a trail of bodies while becoming a national obsession thanks to sensationalist news coverage.

Along the way, they’re pursued by Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore), who’s as twisted as the people he hunts, and media personality Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), who sees their crimes as ratings gold.

Woody Harrelson as Mickey Knox: Charisma and Cold-Bloodedness

Harrelson plays Mickey with a blend of charm and menace that makes you understand why people would be drawn to him, even as you’re repulsed by what he does.

What’s often overlooked is how Harrelson subtly shifts Mickey’s energy in different scenes, sometimes playful and magnetic, sometimes dead-eyed and terrifying. He’s not just a killer; he’s a performer who knows he has an audience.

Juliette Lewis as Mallory Knox: Wild Energy with Tragic Roots

Lewis gives one of her most unrestrained performances as Mallory. She’s fierce, impulsive, and often seems to be having the time of her life until flashes of her abusive childhood break through.

Mallory’s backstory, presented in the style of a warped sitcom (complete with laugh track), is one of the film’s boldest stylistic choices. It’s an uncomfortable way of showing how trauma can be packaged as entertainment and how audiences can become complicit in laughing at someone else’s pain.

Oliver Stone’s Frenzied Direction

Stone directs like he’s channel-surfing on speed. The film switches between color, black-and-white, animation, different film stocks, and surreal imagery, sometimes in the span of a single scene.

What many reviews skip over is how this visual chaos mirrors the sensory overload of 90s media, where news, ads, sitcoms, and music videos all fought for attention. The film isn’t just telling a story; it’s imitating the fractured way we experience modern culture.

Satire of the Media: Wayne Gale and the Ratings Machine

Robert Downey Jr. steals scenes as Wayne Gale, an Australian tabloid journalist with a nose for blood and spectacle. He’s the embodiment of the film’s critique, willing to glamorize Mickey and Mallory’s crimes if it means higher ratings.

What’s brilliant here is how the film blurs the line between Gale and his subjects. By the end, you realize he’s just as addicted to the violence as they are.

Underappreciated Element: The Soundtrack as Cultural Collage

Produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, the soundtrack mixes existing songs with original compositions, news snippets, and ambient sound. It’s not just background music, it’s part of the film’s sensory overload, pulling you deeper into its chaotic, media-saturated world.

Tracks like Leonard Cohen’s “The Future” and L7’s “Shitlist” aren’t just cool needle drops; they’re character cues, reflecting the Knoxes’ warped romanticism and rage.

Violence as Spectacle and Critique

When Natural Born Killers was released, it was accused of glorifying violence. Watching it now, it’s clear Stone is doing the opposite, but he’s also smart enough to know that if you’re going to critique violence as entertainment, you have to make that violence cinematic enough for the audience to confront their own enjoyment of it.

The kills are stylized, surreal, and often absurd, forcing you to question why you’re watching and what you’re feeling.

The Prison Riot Sequence: Chaos at Full Throttle

One of the most intense sequences comes late in the film, during a prison riot orchestrated by the Knoxes. It’s here that the film’s style of rapid editing, clashing camera formats, and screaming crowds reaches its fever pitch.

Tommy Lee Jones, as the unhinged warden, almost steals the movie in these scenes. His over-the-top performance fits perfectly into the heightened reality Stone has built.

The Real Horror: Audience Complicity

What sets Natural Born Killers apart from other crime thrillers is how it points the finger back at the viewer. The media may glorify killers, but only because we, the audience, keep watching. Every time you lean in during one of Mickey and Mallory’s sprees, you’re proving the film’s point.

Why Natural Born Killers Still Works Today

In the age of true crime podcasts, social media infamy, and 24/7 news cycles, Stone’s satire feels almost prophetic. The idea of turning criminals into celebrities isn’t just plausible, it’s practically a business model now.

The film’s frantic style might feel overwhelming to some, but that’s the point. It’s not a movie you relax into; it’s a movie you survive.

Final Thoughts

Natural Born Killers isn’t an easy watch, and it’s not supposed to be. It’s confrontational, abrasive, and sometimes feels like sensory assault. But it’s also one of the most original and daring films of the 90s, with performances and visuals that burn into your memory.

If you’ve never seen it, be prepared, it’s not your typical “killer on the run” movie. And if you’ve seen it before, you might find it even more relevant now than it was in 1994.