Heavy in dialogue, hilarious in delivery and curious in subject, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is one of those quirky films you need to be in the mood for. Starring Hollywood A-listers Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell this psychological thriller is a combination of flat and prolonged yet quirky scripting and a frightening and disjointed score.
Successful Surgeon Steven Murphy (Farrell) befriends a young man, Martin (Barry Keoghan) and invites him to meet his family. Stephen and Martin have a curious friendship where they share gifts with each other and talk to each other like only someone on the Autistic Spectrum could even slightly comprehend. But that in turn becomes hilarious for the audience.
However as the story unfolds we find that Steven was the surgeon for Martin’s father who died in surgery. And this is why Martin is in the picture; he is seeking revenge for Steven’s mistakes and must kill one of his own before they all die. It seems the entire cast is on the spectrum with the curious and peculiar script, which calls for some outright random, sentences. The delivery of these lines is just as quirky and peculiar making what shouldn’t be that funny, downright hilarious.
Killing of a Sacred Deer comes from the weird and wonderful mind of Director and Writer Yorgos Lanthimos, who brought The Lobster to the screens in 2015. He manages to have a boring and lifeless script brought to life by boring and lifeless characters and it work perfectly. Nicole Kidman plays Anna, Steven’s wife and is almost just as weird. Controlling but she also knows the importance of pleasing her husband as she pretends to be under a general anaesthetic lying on the bed for Steven to have his way.
Colin Farrell plays a quirky yet very talented Surgeon who seems to be completely lost in the world he lives in. Finding refuge in a teenage boy as if he was a teenager himself is weird and slightly confronting at the same time. He plays a deadpan character the entire way through the film which makes him awkward to watch and also hilarious to listen to.
The hardest thing about this film is its length; it’s about 45 minutes too long. But that also ads to the boring and lifeless style story as it weaves in and out of this weird thriller. Some great performances and some absolute hilarious lines make this film absolutely something you should check out. But be warned, you do need to be in the mood for this one.
