The Killing of a Sacred Deer Review

Clearly designed to elicit reactions, and pretty successful at doing so. Lanthimos has his grasp on every tiny facet of the production, each scene a delicate balance between heightened aesthetics and blank-faced absurdity. His actors–all outstanding– deliver their lines devoid of any normal conventions of human conversation, resulting in a plethora of inappropriately comedic moments and killer lines (Alicia Silverstone owns the best one). The film occasionally gets lost in its own world, lingering too long on certain uninteresting beats and sometimes becoming a victim of its own distance. However, it’s perhaps this intentional distance–noticeable even in the camera placement–from Lanthimos that makes his story so intriguing. It works because he goes into it understanding the very concept of absurdity and the way ambiguity facilitates a seeming lack of purpose. He has no intention of explaining anything in depth because his characters haven’t even figured it out; he takes his Greek tragedy, spins a few metaphors and philosophical questions into the mix, and lets this twisted foray into human behavior to spiral toward its bone-chilling conclusion.

B+

Tags: Alicia Silverstone cameo The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Barry Keoghan Martin The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Best Screenplay Cannes The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Colin Farrell Steven Murphy The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Ellie Goulding Burn The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Nicole Kidman Anna Murphy The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Nicole Kidman sex scene naked The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Sick children paralysis The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Steven Murphy kills shoots son The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Steven Murphy surgeon death The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Killing of a Sacred Deer A24, The Killing of a Sacred Deer analysis explained ending, The Killing of a Sacred Deer film review, Yorgos Lanthimos director The Killing of a Sacred Deer