The Killing of a Sacred Deer

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source: The Killing of a Sacred Deer

I went into watching this with no background and it is strange from the start, the stilted dialog and unusual responses characters often give. The title threw me until I read later that one version of the Greek myth requires the killing of a sacred deer to get the gods to help. I watched this until the end and was NOT satisfied with its conclusion. A teenager whose dad died on the operating table seems required to take revenge on the doctor's family and that means killing one of them, as they first become paralyzed then their eyes bleed. The only way this could have any reality in today's world is if the teenager has some sort of supernatural powers. And in fact there is a scene where the doctor's wife (Kidman) kisses the bloody feet of the tied-up teenager in their basement, presumably to suggest the biblical story of Jesus' feet being washed by a prostitute. So, while the movie is well-made in most respects, and the actors are good, I did NOT find this movie satisfying. Maybe if I were a fan of Greek mythology it would come across better. I found it very interesting, just not very good. On BluRay from my public library, my wife skipped.

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.

My Rating : 1/10 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' has all the trademarks of writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos. The robotic acting, monotonous delivery of dialogues, weird character perversions, the eerie background score and the strange attempt at humour are all here. If you want to see a drama about a family of robotic androids this is it! Accompanied by screechy, dissonant sound effects you will surely find yourself questioning at some point what is the purpose of this movie?! If you are looking for a similar type of content, I highly suggest to check out Miss Violence (2013) - it's much better than this. I found 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' rather pointless and the worst part for me was the annoying background music juxtaposed with mundane scenes as if trying to convince the viewer that the dreary banality of what's unfolding on screen is actually threatening and one should be afraid. Pointless, dumb and absolutely irritating filmmaking. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Surgeon Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) and wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) have teen daughter Kim and young son Bob. He is befriended by Martin (Barry Keoghan) who is the son of his dead patient. Martin insinuates himself into Steven's family and Kim falls for him. Martin reveals his threatening predictions with a devastating solution. After his interesting weird The Lobster, Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos creates another oddity. His insistence on the mannered monotone dialogue delivery has a hypnotic effect that puts me to sleep. I had to rewind to get back into the flow. Keoghan's dead-eye serial killer performance is too obvious. I can't believe that Steven would bring him into his home. While I appreciate a lot of the outsider oddity flavor, I cannot take any reality from any of the characters or situation. The first thought I have as Steven is that the boy poisoned my family. At a certain point, these are no longer realistic people but rather artistic installations. There is some value in the artwork and I can imagine this story as a shocking psychological thriller in another person's hands.

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos makes a film based on a Greek tragedy, Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides. Heart surgeon Steven Murphy's (Colin Farrell) life is in turmoil after he befriends a troubled teenager Martin (Barry Keoghan) who is the son of a patient who died while Steven was treating him. Martin blames Steven for his father's death. His wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) finds out that Steven had been drinking when he treated Martin's dad. Now Martin is threatening harm to both of their children and he wants Steven to make a deadly choice. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a weird arthouse film and not a very good one. It starts out with the Murphy's comfortable lifestyle and everyone delivering lines in a monotonous cold way. It is too self consciously trying to be offbeat, dark and pretentious. It then becomes unpleasant, surreal and violent as Martin can somehow make the Murphy's children fall ill by some form of magic. This compels Steven to act in a way to somehow rescue his family. It is essentially a demented version of Sophie's Choice.

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.