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The Killing of a Sacred Deer
2017 121 min United Kingdom, United States of America, Ireland R 18+
★7.1
Drama, Thriller, Mystery
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Trailers
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Description
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.
Budget:
$3M
US Gross:
$2.29M
Worldwide:
$10.7M
Starring
Barry G. Bernson
Actor
Herb Caillouet
Actor
Bill Camp
Actor
Awards
Cannes Film Festival 2017
— Best Screenplay
European Film Awards 2017
— Best Director
European Film Awards 2017
— Best Screenplay
Cannes Film Festival 2017
— Best Screenplay
European Film Awards 2017
— Best Actor
Key opinion
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a polarizing, cold, and meticulously crafted psychological thriller that modernizes Greek tragedy through a signature lens of surrealist absurdity. While audiences and critics frequently praise the strong lead performances and the film's ability to sustain profound discomfort, its unconventional tone and cryptic narrative leave some viewers feeling alienated.
| Acting | Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan deliver powerful performances that effectively anchor the film’s unnatural and detached character archetypes. | |
| Score | The film successfully maintains a relentless, oppressive atmosphere of suspense through technical mastery of sound design and score. | |
| Cinematography | Yorgos Lanthimos’s distinct aesthetic—characterized by clinical cinematography and static, wide-angle composition—perfectly facilitates his goal of creating viewer discomfort. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay’s reliance on stiff, stylized, and unnatural dialogue is a divisive point, seen by some as a brilliant subversion of domestic drama and by others as an awkward, alienating choice. | |
| Pacing | The two-hour runtime and slow-burn approach reward viewers who enjoy contemplative, experimental pacing, while others find the experience tedious or unnecessarily sluggish. | |
| Theme | The use of shocking and grotesque imagery sparks disagreement, with some viewing it as vital to the film's thematic depth and others criticizing it as gratuitous provocation. |