Natural Born Killers (1994)

Last updated:
October 24, 2025

Natural Born Killers (1994) is a wildly controversial crime film directed by Oliver Stone and written (in part) by Quentin Tarantino. It’s a chaotic, satirical look at America’s obsession with violence, fame, and media exploitation. The movie blends surreal visuals, shifting film formats, and dark humor to create one of the most provocative cinematic experiences of the 1990s.

Table of Contents

Detailed Summary

The Birth of a Nightmare: Mickey and Mallory Meet

The story begins with a brutal, almost cartoonishly violent scene in a diner where lovers Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis) massacre nearly everyone in the place. Through a flashback, we learn how they met: Mallory, an abused teenager living with her cruel father (Rodney Dangerfield, in a disturbing, darkly comedic role), falls for Mickey, a drifter and thief. Together they murder her parents and hit the road, starting a killing spree across the American Southwest.

The Murderous Road Trip and Media Frenzy

As they rack up bodies, the couple becomes infamous — not just for their brutality but for the celebrity they gain through media coverage. A sleazy tabloid journalist, Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), hosts a TV show called American Maniacs that glorifies their crimes, turning them into pop culture icons. The film’s rapid-fire editing, TV-style inserts, and psychedelic visuals underscore how the media turns real violence into entertainment.

Captured and Imprisoned

Eventually, the pair are captured after a hallucinogenic episode in the desert, where Mickey kills a Native American shaman who warns him that “the demon is inside you.” Imprisoned separately, they’re held in a high-security facility run by Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones), a sadistic man who treats inmates like zoo animals.

The Interview That Starts a Riot

One year later, Wayne Gale scores a televised prison interview with Mickey, promising massive ratings. During the interview, Mickey gives a chillingly articulate monologue about his belief that murder is pure and natural — a twisted philosophy that captivates audiences. As the cameras roll, Mickey incites chaos, kills guards, and starts a riot. Mallory escapes her cell amid the bedlam, and the two reunite in the middle of the violent uprising.

The Ultimate Escape

Mickey and Mallory take Wayne Gale hostage and film their escape, using the camera as both weapon and symbol — the media itself becoming complicit in the violence. As the prison collapses into total anarchy, they execute the Warden in one of the film’s most grotesque moments.

Movie Ending

In the final act, Mickey and Mallory corner Wayne in the desert after the riot. As Wayne pleads for his life, Mickey tells him that he has been “part of the story all along” — a reflection on how media created and sustained their legend. Then, without hesitation, they shoot him on camera, completing their transformation from killers to self-made myth.

Years later, in a faux-documentary epilogue, we see the couple alive and well, driving a camper van with two children. They’ve become almost folkloric figures — still free, still together, living the life of America’s most notorious killers.

Oliver Stone closes the film not with justice or redemption but with a dark mirror held up to society: we made Mickey and Mallory into heroes by loving their story too much.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, Natural Born Killers does not have a post-credits scene. The film ends definitively with Mickey and Mallory’s escape and the disturbing suggestion that they’ve “won.” The credits roll over unsettling visuals and the song “The Future” by Leonard Cohen — a fitting, nihilistic end.

Type of Movie

The film is a crime drama infused with satire, psychological thriller, and dark comedy elements. It’s a violent social commentary disguised as a lovers-on-the-run story, echoing Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands but through the lens of 1990s media insanity.

Cast

Woody Harrelson as Mickey Knox
Juliette Lewis as Mallory Knox
Robert Downey Jr. as Wayne Gale
Tommy Lee Jones as Warden Dwight McClusky
Tom Sizemore as Detective Jack Scagnetti
Rodney Dangerfield as Ed Wilson (Mallory’s abusive father)

Film Music and Composer

The soundtrack, curated by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, is one of the film’s most distinctive elements. It mixes industrial rock, country, and ambient noise, featuring artists like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith. Reznor’s sequencing makes the soundtrack feel like a psychological descent — chaotic, emotional, and deeply unsettling.

Filming Locations

Filming took place primarily in New Mexico, Arizona, and Illinois, with key scenes shot in the desert landscapes that symbolize the lawless, wild nature of Mickey and Mallory’s journey. The prison scenes were filmed in Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois, adding gritty realism to the movie’s climax.

Awards and Nominations

While Natural Born Killers divided critics, it received numerous accolades for its style and editing:

Venice Film Festival (1994): Won the Special Jury Prize
Chicago Film Critics Association: Nominated for Best Director (Oliver Stone)
MTV Movie Awards: Juliette Lewis won Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Woody Harrelson)

Behind the Scenes Insights

Quentin Tarantino originally wrote the script as a straightforward crime story, but Oliver Stone drastically rewrote it into a satirical piece about the media.
Rodney Dangerfield improvised much of his performance as Mallory’s abusive father, which added to the unsettling and surreal atmosphere of those flashback scenes.
Tarantino was furious with the changes and distanced himself from the project.
Over 150 different film stocks and techniques were used to create the chaotic visual style.
The prison riot scenes were shot with real inmates in an active correctional facility.
Juliette Lewis and Woody Harrelson performed many of their own stunts.

Inspirations and References

The movie was loosely inspired by real-life criminal couples like Bonnie and Clyde and Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate.
The original comic tone and structure were influenced by 1960s and 1970s counterculture films, particularly A Clockwork Orange.
The film’s satire draws from America’s media obsession with serial killers such as Charles Manson and Ted Bundy.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

Oliver Stone shot several alternate endings, including one where Mickey dies during the prison riot and another where Mallory betrays him. Both were scrapped to preserve the movie’s central irony: that killers like them survive because society lets them. Several deleted scenes, including an extended sequence with Detective Scagnetti, are available on the Director’s Cut edition.

Book Adaptations and Differences

Natural Born Killers is based on Quentin Tarantino’s original screenplay, but Oliver Stone’s adaptation diverges sharply. Tarantino’s version focused more on character psychology, while Stone’s version became a stylized critique of mass media. There’s no official book adaptation, though several analyses and essays have been published dissecting the film’s themes.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

The opening diner massacre, blending horror and absurd comedy.
The flashback of Mallory’s abusive home life, filmed as a twisted sitcom.
Mickey’s TV interview during the prison riot — a manifesto of madness.
The surreal desert hallucination with the Native American shaman.

Iconic Quotes

Mickey: “Love beats the demon.”
Mallory: “You’ve got me, and I’ve got you. That’s all that matters.”
Mickey: “You can’t kill the demon, you can only drive it out.”
Wayne Gale: “The whole world wants to see this.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

The flashing Coca-Cola commercials and cartoon inserts mock the commercialization of violence.
The sitcom sequence uses a real laugh track to satirize American TV’s indifference to suffering.
Mickey and Mallory’s names echo “Mickey and Minnie Mouse,” emphasizing the film’s dark parody of American icons.
Oliver Stone makes a brief cameo as a prison guard.

Trivia

Banned or heavily censored in several countries, including Ireland and the UK (for a time).
Several real-life copycat crimes were reportedly linked to the movie’s influence.
The editing team used over 3,000 cuts, compared to the usual 600 in an average feature film.
Robert Downey Jr. improvised much of his Australian accent.

Why Watch?

Because Natural Born Killers isn’t just a film — it’s an experience. It’s loud, grotesque, mesmerizing, and disturbingly funny. Beneath the chaos lies a razor-sharp critique of how media turns murderers into celebrities. If you want a movie that challenges your comfort zone and forces you to question your relationship with violence, this is it.

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Detailed Summary