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Parents' Guide to

The Killer (O Matador)

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Excellent but extremely violent, bloody Brazilian Western.

Movie NR 2017 99 minutes
The Killer (O Matador) Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • The Killer Movie: Scene #1
  • The Killer Movie: Scene #2
  • The Killer Movie: Scene #3

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What's the Story?

In THE KILLER, a baby boy is found by a hired assassin named Seven Ears in the wilds of the Perambuco region of Brazil in 1910, abandoned by his peasant parents to be eaten by wild animals because they couldn't afford to take care of him. Seven Ears raises the boy, and teaches him how to hunt, shoot, and kill. Then one day Seven Ears disappears, and the boy, now older (Diogo Morgado), must venture into the world to find Seven Ears. Instead, the young man meets Monsieur Blanchard, the tyrannical and murderous wealthy landowner of the region, who hires the young man -- who now goes by Cabileira after a childhood hero from a book he read -- to murder landowning farmers who won't sell their land to Monsieur Blanchard. Meanwhile, the countryside is also ravaged by "Monkeys," former soldiers who loot and steal anything they can get, and a vigilante named Sobral emerges to fight them and to fight for justice. As Cabileira blindly fights for Blanchard, he begins to question the world around him, especially when he discovers what happened to Seven Ears. Now, Cabileira must learn to fight and kill not just for the sake of money, but also to avenge the evil plaguing the region.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This is an excellent movie with clear nods to the revised Westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. These nods come in the form of the grandeur of the epic story, the overall style, and especially the violence. This is certainly not the sanitized death of Gunsmoke. The violence is graphic, bloody, and brutal. And yet, while the violence has these qualities, these qualities are fitting to tell a story of Latin American greed, lawlessness, and colonial exploitation, however hard to watch the violence can be.

There are times when the influences of the above-named directors start to feel almost heavy-handed. But those kinds of nods to the past are to be expected and even welcomed in Westerns. It's part of the canon, part of what connects the genre. Nonetheless, it bears repeating: The Killer is extremely violent, and those hoping for the expansive vistas and clear-cut good versus evil of perhaps a John Ford-style Western should look elsewhere.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Western movies. What's the appeal of the genre? Are Westerns like The Killer still relevant? Why or why not?

  • Contrast the violence in this Western with the way classic Westerns typically handled violence. What does the graphic violence reveal in terms of realism? Do you prefer an entertaining story or realistic violence in your Westerns?

  • How does this movie use the setting to tell its story?

Movie Details

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