The Killing of a Sacred Deer

This is my first Yorgos Lanthimos film and it's also a film I would probably never want to rewatch.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is about Steven, a surgeon, whose family and life takes a turn for the worst after he befriends a teenager named Martin.

This film gave me a very disturbed feeling during it and after it had ended. It's rare to see a film like this being made in such a unique and uncomfortable manner. It shows to me what a different director Lanthimos is and how he stand out from the crowd. From the chilling music to the character interactions, everything provided an uneasy feeling. The way each person spoke kept on freaking me out due to the absurdity of the dialogue and how wooden and emotionless each actor's performance was. It just seemed very unnatural and robotic which sparked this antsy feeling within me.

Another huge part of the film was the music. The music had a very disturbing tone to it which added to the strange atmosphere and increased the anxiety levels. The camerawork was very strange and unlike anything I've seen in a film. Sometimes the camera would be extremely far away from the characters, making them seem very small in comparison to the size of the room. Techniques like these gave a very subtle reminder as to how powerless the family were and it conveyed to me how talented of a filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is.

You can argue that the performances are really bad since everyone had the same monotone, expressionless and wooden dialogue delivery but it's very obvious how intentional this was. Colin Farrell was really good. It's been a while since I saw Nicole Kidman and it felt great to see her perform this well. The star, however, was Barry Keoghan who seemed the most human out of everybody. His character was very interesting and he absolutely killed it in his role.

I'll be checking out Yorgos Lanthimos's other work for sure. This film really got under my skin and didn't leave until it ended. It's not everyone's cup of tea but if you like offbeat movies, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is for you.

Who gives green light to projects like these?

I would love to spoil this movie, but I did not find anything that could be spoiled, since nothing interesting happens.

Colin Farrel wears a beard that can almost be smelled, hospital corridors, Nicole Kidman plays dead, naked, more hospital corridors, a young man eating noodles like a monkey, even more hospital corridors, a cameo by Alicia Silverstone, a couple of shots in a restaurant, two children crawling, etc ...

Is it too much to ask for a minimally coherent story?

This is definitely not one for everyone and that's okay, sure, but to assign it a 1-star or 2-star rating as some have done, is just ridiculous, especially when the disconnect certainly is on the side of the viewer. In fact, those who deemed the acting 'bad' (one reviewer notes: "I thought the characters were robots") missed the entire point of the film.

While, admittedly, the acting from the girl who plays the daughter is flawed, both the acting from the rest of the cast and the way in which the story unfolds is purposefully meant to make you feel highly uncomfortable - and it succeeds.

From the very first scene, to where your mind goes in regard to the sexual nature of the relationships, to the inappropriate or generally eyebrow-raising topics of discussion between some of the characters, this film is MEANT to BE "creepy" and to make the viewer FEEL odd, off - and even dirty.

Much of the creepy-factor, if you will, comes PRECISELY FROM the amazing way in which most of these talented actors made these characters come across as disturbing, unappealing, ALMOST like most of us, ALMOST worth sympathizing with, but not quite. It would have lost much as a film of this nature had the acting been that of a normal or run-of-the-mill family). Again, EVERYTHING, from the topics of conversations, to their postures, to their almost detached delivery, was purposeful and meant to lend to the eeriness of the film and the discomfort of the viewer. THINK about it for a moment: have you ever watched Colin Farrell NOT deliver an enthusiastic, almost convivial performance? The departure from his easy affability in other roles, and almost apathetic delivery in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, was purposeful, and necessary to drive the uncomfortable narrative deep into the viewers minds. This is the very same reason (among many others) one particular character sings - eerily. The viewing experience had to be uncomfortable.

While The Killing of a Sacred Deer may not go down as a family favorite or as one we watch over and over, it is definitely engrossing for its running time and more importantly, it isn't the thousands of other films on hundreds of streaming sites with nothing to say for itself. In short, for those who specifically look for and enjoy films which are not the standard fare, this one is a should-watch.

7.6/8.

Yorgos Lanthimos's latest film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, is well-shot, adeptly acted, intensely written, and beautifully unsettling. An outstanding achievement by any metric. And I never want to see it again.

From the opening shot, the film wears its tone not only on its sleeve, but also on its chest, face, and everywhere else: Its gonna make you uncomfortable. From the haunting score that seems to creep its way into every scene, to the awkward and robotic characters, to the downright scary Martin (played excellently by Barry Keoghan), the movie feels 'off.' We've seen this "seemingly perfect upper- class family has a darkness that tears them apart" type story before, but never so viscerally displayed as it is here.

If the characters' inhuman mannerisms, conversations, and actions aren't unsettling enough, the film also delivers enough on-screen gross outs to hammer home a truly affecting experience. The film is objectively well-shot, and delivers a capable, if slightly subdued plot, while building to a frightening conclusion. It's not a horror movie sort of frightening either, but more of a, "I can't believe I'm about to watch this" feeling.

I know that's a tough sell. The Killing of a sacred Deer is not going to make you feel good. The film is filled with an overarching, all-consuming darkness that lingers even after it's over. Still, it's a truly unique and deeply affecting film that's worth watching, even if only once.

Yes, this movie is weird, and it's entirely intentional.

Yorgos Lanthimos is an interesting Greek director who's been making English language films for a few years. The Lobster is so dry and oddball that I ended up kind of loving it. The Favourite I ended up loving because it was able to most effectively balance its weirdness with its characters (perhaps because he didn't actually write this script as opposed to everything else he's directed).

The Killing of A Sacred Deer is the movie he made in between the two listed above, and I think it might be the weakest of the three. Good instead of very good, that is.

So, let me talk about the weirdness. Everything about this movie feels stilted and mannered. It's off putting, especially at the beginning when you're trying to figure out what on earth the movie actually is. As the story progresses, though, it's easy to see the nefarious undercurrents running through every scene. We spend the first half of the movie trying to figure out where this unease originates from, and the fact that everyone is delivering unnatural dialogue unnaturally heightens the feeling.

I've seen so many complaints of unnatural dialogue over the years. The one example strongest in my mind is around the movie Juno. The complaints of the mannered way in which characters spoke seemed to be a mask for complaints about the rest of the movie that people couldn't figure out how to express, so they picked on the dialogue. I'm not saying that criticism of such writing is invalid or always misdirected, but that did seem to be the trend I noticed and continue to notice in such criticisms. Just because dialogue isn't reflective of how people actually speak (I like to think of Mamet), that doesn't mean that the dialogue is a failure. Oftentimes, it's that way for a reason.

Anyway, back to the movie. The sense of unease that permeates the film is great, and I kind of loved the film for about the first three-quarters. However, once the plot began to unravel and resolve, I felt like the movie lost some of its edge. When the main character is presented with his great moral choice (and his blackly comedic method for resolving it), I felt more removed from the choice than I should have. The build up is what works best in this movie, while the resolution just simply doesn't gel as well.

Still, the movie's an odd but entertaining little thriller.