Review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) by Casandracomplex — 22 May 2018

I can see why the majority of viewers of this film do not know how to rate this film.In my opinion,the director aspires to be Kubrick-esk but unfortunately is more akin to pretentiousness. Kubrick balances cinematic minimalism with engaging characters and above all visual genius.

This film is simply hollow, empty, devoid of any realistic human reactions and the most unlikable characters imaginable.The stoic,robot-like behavior of every single character was probably intended to create a sense of being in a surrealistic space and time but ultimately doesn't pay off and winds up giving one the impression that the director discovered dads box of tools, not knowing how to use them, creates a six ton rocking chair made out of 2X4's.

The most bizarre device that was used was to have one of the characters blurt out the whole plot early on in the film. I imagine that was to create a sense of fate and doom but left me thinking,"well they obviously aren't going to follow that narrative because that would be basically like someone spoiling the plot details.

(the people that we hate watching movies with)Unfortunately, that's exactly how it plays out, point to point. There was no deviation whatsoever. I'm not surprised that I read that this movie opened at a film festival because that creates a pretense that if you think the film to be incredibly stupid then, you are simply,"not getting it".

As a result,those who are overly concerned about what others think, are cowed into pretending that you liked it so that you don't appear unsophisticated. What a perfect formula for the the times that we are in today.

If a person parts from the current,"group-think" concerning the use of identity politics and virtue signalling then you are silenced and shamed. In two words... PRETENTIOUS DRIVEL.