Portraits of Wild Things: The Films of John McNaughton at Nitehawk Cinema

“McNaughton seems fascinated by the ways in which lawlessness is infectious.” – Roger Ebert

Capturing attention with his audacious debut HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER in 1986, a film he had to push to be released when he refused to acquiesce to the MPAA’s demand for cuts, John McNaughton proved he had a knack for fringe characters. HENRY caught the eye of Martin Scorsese, who then tapped McNaughton to direct MAD DOG AND GLORY, starring Robert DeNiro, Bill Murray and Uma Thurman. Although best known for HENRY and the twisty, sexy thriller WILD THINGS, McNaughton’s filmography includes other less celebrated gems, the connection being a fascination with people operating on the outside of mainstream society, seemingly allergic to the rules.

For this series we present those films, most of which are on 35mm, with McNaughton in person for Q&As for WILD THINGS, CONDO PAINTING and NORMAL LIFE.