Review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This is a creepy and sinister film, in terms of the looming type music played in the background and some of the slowly unravelling plot points but otherwise it may look like a mundane film, in fairly everyday settings. Of course this is a film by Yorgos Lanthimos and so the fact it has a menacing undertone, while being set in, initially, a seemingly normal setting didn't surprise me. There's also a strong sense of claustrophobia present, with a fish eye lens type of camera angle and other, shall I say quirky, camera angles used to give the viewer a sense of the impending implosion building up. Colin Farrell plays a very suspicious and somewhat angry sounding, yet quiet in tone, man, the doctor/surgeon, Steven. His irish accent is more apparent in this film than in others I remember seeing him in recently. Also present is Nicole Kidman, who plays the surgeons wife, Anna (Ann Murphy). Its certainly a film that keeps you guessing, which is no bad thing. I also noticed there were some scenes, in between scenes, such as ones showing a character driving elsewhere, in which all music and noise was apparently muted, which adds to the creepy undertone.

Its definitely a sinister and haunting film that will leave you second guessing things. It features a scene of self harm, with blood depicted, which may be a trigger for some people, so I thought I ought to flag that. Hence its not a film that will suit or appeal to all but its quite good at what it does - providing an almost Hitchcockian slow tension. I would recommend it on that basis.