Movie Review: OMG. WTF. LOL. Words Can’t Describe "The Killing of a Sacred Deer"

But here goes…

"I’m sorry if I made you feel awkward," one character says to another in The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Yeah… I don’t reckon Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos feels the same pangs of remorse. If he does, to quote a ten-year-old OneRepublic song, it’s too late to apologise.

Anyone who sat through his brilliant Oscar-nominated breakthrough Dogtooth or English-language debut The Lobster (my fave of 2015, and also an Oscar nominee, because the Academy be freaks) knows how uncomfortable he can make things. The Killing of a Sacred Deer, his second collabo with Colin Farrell, sees Lanthimos at his manipulative best, contorting our morals with a ‘what would you do’ fable of disturbing proportions.

If you’re into this sort of thing, you might find it hilarious. No judgement. I do as well.

Farrell plays Steven, a wealthy cardiologist who has taken the deeply odd and underprivileged 16-year-old Martin (Barry Keoghan) under his wing. Steven invites Martin to meet his wife, Anna (Nicole Kidman), 14-year-old daughter Kim (Raffey Cassidy) and youngest son Bob (Sunny Suljic), even asking him to sleep over. Martin returns the favour, setting up Steven with his widowed mother (Alicia Silverstone). But when Steven turns them both down, Martin takes it poorly. Suddenly, Bob is struck by a mysterious illness. And if you want to go into The Killing of a Sacred Deer totally blind, this is your last chance to click away.

First, Bob loses the use of his legs. Then, his appetite. A vengeful Martin warns Steven that the next stage involves ‘bleeding from the eyes’. After that, death. The same fate will befall Anna and Kim, unless Steven does something unthinkable for Martin. I won't write out the details here. For a while, Steven thrashes against his horrifying unreality, until Kim stops walking too. By the end, Steven—and the audience—is faced with the inevitable. Good luck, everyone.

The picture is co-written by Efthymis Filippou, and you have to wonder where these dudes get their ideas. Well, this time around, the title actually gives away their inspiration, tying the events of the movie to the Greek myth of King Agamemnon and his daughter Iphigenia. (Googling will lead to spoilers.) The Bible and its many hubristic parables probably planted some seeds too. Besides the Saw franchise, there’s no better source for filmmakers seeking emotionally-torturous trials to torment their prideful characters.

Of course, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a fairytale in the way that The Lobster is a rom-com, and just as you’d have to be certifiable to take a first date to The Lobster, you should keep children well away from Sacred Deer. It twists the titular myth into a modern day thought experiment, where supernatural (and other natural evils) collide, culminating in a stunning moment of dizzying, unconscionable barbarity.

What separates Lanthimos’ feature from, say, Michael Haneke’s similarly punishing Funny Games is his signature strangeness, and the suspicion that he’s having a laugh, despite all the potent post-capitalist commentary and stings of extreme violence (punctuated by the equally mischievous sound designers). As Steven deadpans about Martin, "Yes, he is funny." I feel the same way about Yorgos. I often use the same delivery.

The smartest thing this weird-wave director ever did was start making films in English. Now, his actors have to recite his stilted, staccato dialogue as if it was in their second language, making everything feel that much more unnatural. It’s not just that Lanthimos’ scenarios are unsettling, or that his cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis alternates between imposing close-ups and stalking long shots; he turns familiar stars into oddball aliens with their own rules and rhythm for conversation.

Farrell, the unlikeliest of muses, is in his unlikely element as the blame-shifting surgeon, and Kidman endures a complex journey of denial, bargaining and acceptance after learning the truth behind Steven and Martin’s relationship. But Keoghan—as the family’s menacing and unsettling string-puller—and Cassidy—who falls for him as if she were a Manson Family devotee—best capture the weirdness.

If the preceding 671 words didn’t make it clear, try to imagine a neon sign that flashes the word ‘warning’ atop any cinema door that leads to The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It is not for the faint-hearted, or perhaps simply 'the hearted'. Yet, if you’ve seen—and loved—Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster, or are just down for something different, feel free to take on Lanthimos’ latest challenge. However, just because you were warned doesn’t mean you’re safe.

4.5/5

In cinemas November 16. Rated MA15+ for strong themes.