Review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) by Keenan S — 14 Apr 2018

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is an ominous, eerie, and disturbing psychological horror film. It's not here for jump scares, it's not here to hold your hand and tell everything you want to hear, it's not meant to have likable characters, and it cares not to fit into a box.

It's a polarizing film - some will adore it and call it a masterpiece of the genre, while others will decry it as pretentious, obtuse, ugly, and too metaphorical. I fall in the former group, as I think that it is one of the best films of the decade and one of the more intelligent horror films to come around.

The story follows a heart surgeon named Steven who is married to Anna and has two children, Kim and Bob. Outside of work he has taken a teenager named Martin under his wing. Martin is awkward and strange, but Steven helps him out over guilt due to the death of Martin's father during surgery.

Steven even brings him home to meet his family, with his daughter, Kim, taking a particular liking to him. However, Martin's behaviors soon become a bit too much for Steven to handle, so he tries to avoid him.

Martin does not take this well and still harboring anger towards Steven for the death of his father, tells him that he must choose which of his family members must die, otherwise they all die. First, they'll be unable to walk.

Then, they will refuse to eat. Then, in the progression of the illness, they'll bleed from their eyes. And finally, they die. Steven doesn't think all that much of the threat at first, until Bob one day can't get out of bed because he can't feel his legs.

The doctors are unable to find a cause, and soon Kim develops the same symptoms of this mysterious illness. Who will Steven choose to die so that the others may live? The plot is already quite dark, but what makes this film irk some viewers are the characters themselves.

Steven and his wife, Anna, are not going to win any awards for parenting, that's for sure. Steven is egotistical and his wife is vain and does not handle pressure well. Martin may have brought this devastation upon the family, but if anything, he's the Pandora's Box of the family secrets and their true selves.

By their own actions, they have unleashed this Hell upon themselves. It's a film about dark secrets and revelations, and it does not paint a pretty portrait of its characters. It's nihilistic, it's frightening, and it's one of the best films of the decade.

If you like horror films to be bold and thought-provoking on top of being scary, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is not one to miss.