Yorgos Lanthimos is really painting Greece like the saddest place on Earth. His previous outing paints a bleak outlook on humanity’s future in the dating world. The Killing of a Sacred Deer puts the Lanthimos ideal of a nuclear family in complete disarray. Who hurt this poor man? Can we get him a hug?
The nuclear family in question are doctors Anna (Nicole Kidman) and Steven (Colin Farrell) Murphy and their 2 kids Kim (Raffey Cassidy) and Bob (Sunny Suljic). They clearly live a serene existence in a beautiful house with lovely jobs and hobbies. Things change after Steven treats a teenager named Martin (Barry Keoghan), and the boy becomes closer to Steven and his family. And that’s all I’ll say but suffice to say, some serious stuff goes down.
I get why most critics LOVE Yorgos Lanthimos; the guy has an eye for detail and a very distinct style of conversing. Characters in a Lanthimos move speak purely informationally. Emotional injection into a statement only comes from distress, never from happiness. As a result, the dialogue perpetually sounds foreign but interesting due to the speed and monotone nature of it. While I also feel that same pleasure, the peripheral characters in his stories act normally: only his leads act weird. As a result, a disconnect develops for the characters and I have little to no investment in how their story turns out. And since I didn’t identify with the characters well enough, it’s very hard to justify their behavior when in my opinion they make some very stupid choices for how to get out of their problems. Lanthimos characters will always walk a fine line with me; it worked great in The Lobster, not so well here.
Colin Farrell goes a long way to covering up for some of the weaknesses in Lanthimos’s script. If it were up to Lanthimos, I imagine Farrell would maintain that monotone the entire time. But Farrell injects enough humanity to make you care somewhat but still maintain who the character is, a tricky line most actors couldn’t pull off. Kidman is playing the ice queen with a grounded, slightly human spin, a version of the characters that put her on the acting map. Raffey Cassidy was built to be a Lanthimos character; her cover of Ellie Goulding’s Burn is equally sweet and creepy. And Sunny Suljic doesn’t say much and just looks sad, which is fine. The star here is Barry Keoghan. I won’t spill any details but the boy switches up his delivery just enough each time to keep you guessing what is really going on in his head. But it all comes out in the same tone, so especially Steven can’t quite tell to pity or worry about Martin.
Though it lacks the traditional beats, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is definitely a horror movie. The slow burn of dread and despair grows and grows until the end where it threatens to overwhelm you. You know what else threatened to overwhelm me? Alicia Silverstone, who plays Martin’s mom. Hey Alicia, where have you been? I missed you!