Review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) by Garry A — 15 Dec 2017

Time to revisit that top 10 films of the year list! Lanthimos's film is certainly up there with 'mother!' (What a double-bill that would be!) as my favourite horror film of the last 12 months. Colin Farrell plays a brilliant surgeon (I know, right?) who invites a young boy into his life and family home, where things take a decidedly dark turn.

The plot is distinctly Hitchcockian, with it's leading man in danger scenario, but the tone is totally Polanski-like claustrophobia (with a touch of Aronofsky craziness) shot in a style that Kubrick would have been proud of (all tracking shots and long takes, with more steadicam than the entirety of the great man's back-catalogue). Performances are stunning, but have a mesmerising off-kilter 'beat' to them, giving the film an ethereal, dream-like feel - the physicality is normal, but the dialogue is delivered in an off-beat stilted style (think the monotone conveyance of lines in the 'porno films' in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Boogie Nights' and you wouldn't be far off). It only adds to the other-worldly atmosphere.

I wasn't a massive fan of Lanthimos's previous 'The Lobster', which scored decidedly better reviews that this, as I thought it fell away half way through. This had me transfixed throughout. A stunning film.