The Killing of the Sacred Deer

September 27, 20175 min

Some filmmakers deliver in creating a world that you can’t help but want to explore. Yorgos Lanthimos has done that for me with his films “The Lobster” and Dogtooth.” Now I didn’t say I want to live in that world, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be a character in that story, just that the world has a unique cadence to it that makes it look appealing. Anyone who hasn’t seen ”The Lobster” should stop reading this and watch it and once you are done, come back. For those of you who have, you know what you are getting with Lanthimos and he doesn’t disappoint with his newest film.

Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) is a successful heart surgeon, who seems to have the perfect life. He has a beautiful wife in Anna (Nicole Kidman) and two perfect kids in Kim (Raffrey Cassidy) and Bob (Sunny Suljic), you know the picture perfect family. Not only does Steven have time to save peoples lives and to have quality time with his family, but he also spends time with Martin (Barry Keoghan), a kid whose father died while being operating on by Steven. Everything couldn’t be better and soon Steven introduces Martin to his family that seems like a natural fit. Things though are not as they seem and when Bob loses the ability to walk with no explanation Steven finds out that a pass sin may have come back to haunt him. Soon Kim joins Bob in his aliments and Steven is told he must make a choice or things will only get worse.

Some filmmakers have a certain beat to their films that go beyond the images and words on the surface. Someone like David Mamet comes to mind, as words seem to be given new meanings with the way Mamet’s characters talk. Yorgos Lanthimos has that same feeling, as there is a tone and delivery that his characters talk in that enhances the film. “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” is a lot like turning on your stove, while it starts with a slow burn as the film goes the flame gets hotter and hotter, to the point you don’t want to look away. Ferrell, who is in his second Lanthinmos’s film feels like he is the perfect centerpiece here and you can argue that he has never been better. Ferrell though isn’t the only one who delivers in his performance, as the entire cast seems to adopt Farrell’s cadence, something that carried over from “The Lobster.” There really is something about this world that is so appealing, which I think is the calm and politeness of it all. This movie is just a joy to witness and shows there are few out there making movies like Lanthimos, who seems to be blazing his own unique trail.

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