# The Kill Room
**The Kill Room** is a 2023 American crime comedy thriller directed by Nicol Paone and written by [Jonathan Jacobson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-jacobson), in which a money laundering scheme run through a New York art gallery accidentally turns a hitman into an overnight avant-garde art sensation. It stars [Uma Thurman](https://www.edgepedia.org/uma-thurman) as art dealer Patrice, Joe Manganiello as hitman Reggie, and [Samuel L. Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/samuel-l-jackson) as Reggie's boss Gordon, with Debi Mazar and Maya Hawke in supporting roles.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Nicol Paone (her second feature, after *Friendsgiving*, 2020); screenplay by Jonathan Jacobson[3](https://www.dga.org/events/2023/november2023/the-kill-room_qna_1023) |
| Lead cast | Uma Thurman (Patrice), Joe Manganiello (Reggie), Samuel L. Jackson (Gordon), Debi Mazar (The Kimono), Maya Hawke (Grace)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release September 29, 2023 (United States); video release November 3, 2023 by Shout! Factory[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023)) |
| Rating / runtime | R for pervasive language, violence, and drug use; 98 minutes[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023)) |
| Box office | $139,358 domestic, $897,837 worldwide on an estimated $6.5 million budget[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023)) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/) |
| Critical reception | 59% on the Tomatometer (27 reviews); Metascore 58 (mixed or average)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Patrice is a struggling New York art dealer whose gallery is failing; she cannot pay her low-end drug dealer and offers him a painting instead of the money she owes.[6](https://www.nightsandweekends.com/articles/19/NW1900762.php) • [7](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/la-stanza-degli-omicidi/) The painting reaches Gordon, the dealer's boss, a kosher baker with criminal sidelines who sees the gallery as a vehicle for laundering dirty money.[6](https://www.nightsandweekends.com/articles/19/NW1900762.php) • [7](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/la-stanza-degli-omicidi/) To make the scheme work, his contract-killer Reggie produces thrown-together abstract paintings to be sold through the gallery; because collectors pay large sums for bizarre contemporary art, the scam is believable.[8](https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/ocean-county/trailer-drops-for-a-list-film-made-at-the-jersey-shore/) The plan spirals when Reggie's work makes him an overnight avant-garde star, forcing Patrice to play the art world against the underworld.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room)
## Production
Paone came to the project through an old producing partner who sent her Jonathan Jacobson's script, first as an acting role, which she declined; when no director was attached, she took it as a directing job. She and Jacobson then spent two years revising the script to make it more character-driven, cutting early monologues about art that she described as too "TED Talk-y."[9](https://www.njarts.net/director-nicole-paone-assembles-stellar-cast-for-dark-comedy-the-kill-room/)
The characters were originally from Brooklyn, but because New Jersey's tax incentives made shooting there attractive, Paone rewrote them as New Jersey natives; the gallery remains in New York while filming took place in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Lavallette, and the restaurant scenes were shot at Angelo's Ristorante in Paone's hometown of Lyndhurst.[9](https://www.njarts.net/director-nicole-paone-assembles-stellar-cast-for-dark-comedy-the-kill-room/) Thurman and Manganiello filmed the final scenes at the Jersey shore on October 7, 2022.[8](https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/ocean-county/trailer-drops-for-a-list-film-made-at-the-jersey-shore/)
In a Directors Guild of America Q&A after the October 2023 Los Angeles membership screening, moderated by director [Jim Rash](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-rash), Paone described a technique she used differently from her first film: recording silent takes in which the actors ran scenes without dialogue, to capture reactions she could cut against.[3](https://www.dga.org/events/2023/november2023/the-kill-room_qna_1023)
The film reunited Thurman and Jackson, co-stars of *Pulp Fiction*, and cast Thurman's real-life daughter [Maya Hawke](https://www.edgepedia.org/maya-hawke) as Grace.[8](https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/ocean-county/trailer-drops-for-a-list-film-made-at-the-jersey-shore/)
## Reception
**Critics.** On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 59% Tomatometer from 27 reviews, with the site's critics consensus calling it "a reasonably diverting caper" whose attempts to satirize the art world "don't amount to much."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 58, labeled mixed or average, based on 7 critic reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/) Reviews ranged from Thelma Adams's 4/5 in *AARP Movies for Grownups*, praising the leads' chemistry, to Ryan Gilbey's 2/5 in *The Guardian*, which faulted Paone's "flat direction" and Jacobson's "listless screenplay."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) RogerEbert.com's review found the film an "intriguing and entertaining early work," crediting Manganiello's presence for making the killer-with-a-heart-of-gold trope work.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/) Several reviewers noted that the title suggests a murder thriller when the film is actually a send-up of the New York art scene.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/)
**Audiences.** The Popcornmeter score was 34% from more than 250 user ratings, and Metacritic's user score was 3.6 out of 10 from 20 ratings, labeled generally unfavorable.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/) IMDb users gave it 5.5/10 from about 10,000 votes.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/)
## Box office
The film opened in 355 theaters on September 29, 2023, grossing $82,891 in its opening weekend, about 59.5% of its eventual $139,358 domestic total; it averaged roughly $233 per theater in its first weekend and ran about one week per theater.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023)) International releases added $758,479, led by Russia (CIS) at $465,051, for a worldwide total of $897,837; IMDb lists a higher worldwide figure of $994,105.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023)) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/) Against an estimated $6.5 million production budget, the theatrical run returned a small fraction of its cost.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/)
## Content advisory
The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification), which classified the home release in April 2024, described the film as containing very strong language, strong violence, bloody images, and drug misuse; its content advice notes suffocations with plastic bags, punches, chokings, and a neck breaking, along with a character crushing and snorting illegally obtained prescription drugs.[10](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-kill-room-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde1mdi2) In a detail tying the violence to the art-world premise, bloody plastic bags appear displayed as artworks in an exhibition within the film.[10](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-kill-room-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde1mdi2)
## References
1. [The Kill Room, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kill_room)
2. [The Kill Room (2023), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11908172/)
3. [Director Nicol Paone discusses The Kill Room, Directors Guild of America](https://www.dga.org/events/2023/november2023/the-kill-room_qna_1023)
4. [The Kill Room (2023), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kill-Room-The-(2023))
5. [The Kill Room Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-kill-room/)
6. [Nights And Weekends: The Kill Room](https://www.nightsandweekends.com/articles/19/NW1900762.php)
7. [La stanza degli omicidi, Commissione Nazionale Valutazione Film](https://www.commissionefilmcei.it/film/la-stanza-degli-omicidi/)
8. [Trailer Drops For A-List Film Made At The Jersey Shore, Jersey Shore Online](https://www.jerseyshoreonline.com/ocean-county/trailer-drops-for-a-list-film-made-at-the-jersey-shore/)
9. [Director Nicol Paone assembles stellar cast for dark comedy 'The Kill Room', NJ Arts](https://www.njarts.net/director-nicole-paone-assembles-stellar-cast-for-dark-comedy-the-kill-room/)
10. [The Kill Room, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-kill-room-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmde1mdi2)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license