The Killing of a Sacred Deer
2017 · Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
- mystery
The story
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.
What it’s like
Clinical, symmetrical frames shot in cool, flat light: hospital corridors in pale fluorescent white, sleek modern houses under overcast grey, and interiors where the camera holds still while people deliver lines with unnerving, affectless calm. Director Yorgos Lanthimos favours long static takes and deadpan staging, and the sound design leans on wrong-footed silences, a sharp orchestral sting, and the hum of machinery, so that ordinary domestic moments start to feel like an experiment being run. The vibe is cold, precise dread with a dark absurdist streak, best suited to a late night alone when you want something unsettling and controlled rather than cosy. The pacing is slow and deliberate, and the emotional register stays chilly: a prosperous, emotionally brittle family slowly coming apart under an unexplained pressure, with tension that builds through small, cruel reversals. Intensity is high: surgical scenes, graphic bodily harm and an uncomfortable, deliberately disturbing climax with brief but brutal violence and strong sexual discomfort. Not gentle. Made for viewers who enjoy Haneke-style coldness and dark, deliberately uncomfortable moral puzzles.
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