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The Killing of a Sacred Deer is artsy, cold, clinical, and touched on a disturbing theme that many will find difficult to deal with. This is subject matter that we have discussed on a few other movies we have reviewed as being deeply disturbing.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer Trailer
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The Killing of a Sacred Deer is, as far as I can tell, a modern-day retelling or rendition of the Greek tragedy of Agamemnon and Iphigenia, where Agamemnon accidentally kills a sacred deer and ends up offending the gods because of it. The goddess Artemis demands that he pay for the killing with blood from his own family as payment in what is called blood for blood.
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The interesting thing about this movie is that it takes a Greek tragedy, which I think we can all agree, seems distant and hard to relate to at best, and makes it relevant to today’s audience in a very real way. What’s even more interesting is that while they are making this hard to relate to Greek tragedy more relevant and easier to relate to, they simultaneously make the whole movie very cold and clinical. So it’s a bit of a mixture, making it more relatable and also harder to comprehend. Because it isn’t a literal retelling of the story of Agamemnon, it becomes a unique story of its own.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is, at its core, a psychological thriller. The acting is delivered in a way that makes you feel mildly alarmed because it’s so deadpan and void of real human expression. There is a bleakness that pervades the whole script, even the sets, camera angles, and framing are set up to invoke minimalism and clinical feelings.
There are plenty of topics that The Killing of a Sacred Deer touches on that are meant to make the viewer at the very least intrigued, and usually, a little bit disturbed. Lot’s of strange sexual undertones pervade this movie but never make it to the surface. The overall effect is an oily residue that coats your brain with the thought of, “that was awful and strange… I want to know more.”
The actors did a great job of doing what they were told to do by the director – act detached. The Killing of a Sacred Deer centers around Dr. Steven Murphey (Colin Farrell) who is a surgeon, and his wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) who is a clinic owner, and their two children, Kim (Raffey Cassidy) and Bob (Sunny Suljic). A key role is that of Martin (Barry Keoghan), a teenage boy whose father died in the hands of Steven on the operating table. Young Martin has taken an interest in Dr. Murphey’s profession, and Dr. Murphey obliges Martin by allowing him to do a kind of job shadow thing when it’s convenient.
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Interestingly, Martin’s mother is played by Alicia Silverstone, who has made a fabulous transition from being my teenage heartthrob to being my middle-aged heartthrob. Bravo, Alicia! Although it’s a small part, her character is effective and deeply sexual.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who did The Lobster, which was also an A24 distribution, and starred Colin Farrell. Lanthimos and a Greek man named Efthymis Filippou wrote The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
My Rating
8/10
If you love psychological thrillers, this is a must-see movie.
Spoilers
The whole movie feels “off” from the start. There are tons of sexual undertones that are brought up to hang in front of the viewer like tawdry details of private moments that shouldn’t be discussed in public. The Killing of a Sacred Deer sets out to make its audience feel odd, and it does a great job of it.
The basic premise of The Killing of a Sacred Deer is Dr. Murphy accidentally killed Martins father during surgery that he was performing on the man’s heart. Martin has become close to Dr. Murphey under the guise of being interested in becoming a surgeon himself. As it turns out, Martin is only interested in setting a cursed upon Dr. Murphey’s family that goes a little something like this:
“You killed a member of my family; now you gotta kill a member of your family to balance things out, I can’t tell you who to kill, that’s for you to decide. But, if you don’t they will all get sick and die.”
- Paralysis of the limbs
- Refusal of food until starvation
- Bleeding from the eyes (once this starts death is not far away)
- Death
Soon, Dr. Murphey’s kids begin to show signs of the curse, and eventually, he is forced to choose which member of his family is sacrificed to save the rest.
Super Interesting video with Yorgos Lanthimos and Colin Farrell
There is a lot of art, intent, and symbolism going on in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and it worked well on me. The weird sexual tones, the sterility of the acting and the characters themselves, it all worked toward making this a film that seeped into my mind and gave me a long-lasting memory. This movie forces it’s viewers to come face-to-face with some very disturbing concepts, and I appreciate it even though it may strike many as lacking heart.
The Story of Iphigenia
For anyone who is interested in learning the story of Iphigenia, the Greek myth that this movie is based upon, check out GreekMythology.com. They do a good job of providing the story in a wiki format that is clear and concise.
Is The Killing of a Sacred Deer Worth Watching?
If you don’t mind facing some disturbing material and themes, I would recommend anyone who is looking for a seriously solid psychological horror movie to see The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It’s a great movie that will stick with you. Also, mom’s spaghetti.
If you want to watch The Killing of a Sacred Deer, please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon link to help us support the podcast.