The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) Review

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) Review

 

The Killing of a Sacred Deer begins with a close-up of a real open heart surgery, but despite this nauseatingly graphic shot which lingers for an unnervingly long time, there isn’t anything gory throughout the rest of the film, but it quite effectively sets the uncomfortable tone sustained right to the end. Steven, played by Colin Farrell, is a surgeon who has a strange relationship with a young man named Martin, played by Barry Keoghan. Steven brings Martin home one night to meet his wife, played by Nicole Kidman, and their two children, a teenage daughter and younger son. Even though Martin seems well mannered and charming, he also seems like a weirdo, but Steven and his family are weird in their own ways, too. It’s revealed that Martin’s father died on Steven’s operating table, and Martin would like for Steven to hook up with his widowed mother, as well as kill one of his family members to “balance things” for him. Steven is not into either of these proposals, but reality soon begins to line up with Martin’s warning that if Steven doesn’t kill a family member then all of them will become paralyzed, stop eating, bleed from the eyes, and die. 

This is not your typical psychological horror film. In many ways it’s like an anti-horror film. There are no jump scares, no quick cuts, no deranged killer, no signature murder weapon, and no clear explanation for whether or not what is happening is supernatural or not. It does, however, still have characters making some questionable decisions, but in this case it isn’t much of a detriment to the film. Some have said this movie is darkly comedic, and I can see how, but I found it primarily disturbing. Most of the scariness comes from the way the film is shot, the way the actors portray the characters, and the way they speak to each other. The camera is static most of the time, the actors are frequently subdued, and some of the things they say to each other (mostly Martin speaking to Steven and his wife) are inappropriate and/or completely bizarre. The performances are all great in spite of the overly calculated dialogue delivery (which I’m sure was a result of the director requesting that mode of delivery) but Barry Keoghan in particular is expertly off-putting and yet simultaneously interesting.

Another big contributor to the creepiness is the musical score. It’s intrusive and hard on the ears, but in an effective way. In many ways I was reminded of The Shining, especially with how unnatural all the characters act and speak and the way people are often framed from far away in the interior environments, making them look small even as their dialogue is heard at a normal volume. There is a grim quality to the movie, and it’s the kind of slow burn that gnaws away at your nerves as the family dynamic begins to crumble and Steven becomes increasingly desperate. There were two things that took me out of it and became funny in an ineffective way. One was when the paralyzed kids were crawling all around the house, which looked kind of ridiculous and didn’t work because of the way they were shot so plainly and directly, and the other thing I won’t spoil because it has to do with a pivotal moment at the climax, but if you’ve seen the movie you probably know what I’m talking about. The very ending I also found largely unsatisfying, but not to the degree that it undid the whole viewing experience.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is not an easy recommendation. I think it’s too slow and strange and abstract for most mainstream viewers who aren’t predisposed to enjoying psychological horror films, but I think if you’re looking for a different kind of disturbing horror movie experience, it might be worth a look, mainly for the performances and cinematography.