Random Movie Review - The Killing of a Sacred Deer

 

So where I live, I'm part of this film club, and we talk about films as if it was like a book club. The chosen film, this week, was this little film. Produced by Film4, distributed by Curzon Film and also produced by companies I have never heard of. Directed by Greek filmmaker Yargos Lanthimos and having Greek themes in it, it's a psychological horror and not my first one either. I didn't know what to expect in this, especially with the opening scene being that of surgery, similarly to how Beau is Afraid opened. Anyway, let's see what this is about, and it's a name only thing. I don't recall seeing a so-called "sacred deer" in this film:

Following his latest open-heart surgery, cardiothoracic surgeon Steven Murphy (played by Colin Farrell) meets a 16-year-old boy called Martin Lang (played by Barry Keoghan) in a diner. Lang's father died some years ago under mysterious circumstances, and Murphy decides to have him visit his family. He gets on well with them and starts to visit a few more times. That is, until Lang begins making demands which soon lead to a series of mysterious things happening to Murphy's family, but whether they all come out of it alive, well that's another matter.

This film is unsettling, like most psychological films. It's also well acted by its two big leads, and it just makes you question about whether you should risk having someone over, despite their health issues. Maybe those issues will affect your people. But then again, the chances of that are unlikely. Yeah, not much I can really think of this, but definitely worth watching if you find unsettling themes, comforting. 8/10