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The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), R, ★★★


Without watching the movie, Alps, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has made a name for himself with the decent Dogtooth and the quite unique but almost brilliant concept in The Lobster. So, I did not know what to expect from this director with his next project but I do know it is going to be quite weird. And with this movie, even though it is not a total brilliant achievement from Lanthimos, calling it a psychological thriller could be debated as a misconception, however, this is a "horror movie" that is supported by cerebral themes and solid performances.

Steven (Colin Farell) is a cardiovascular surgeon that has been living with his wife, Anna (Nicole Kidman), who is an ophthalmologist, and has two children, Bob and Kim (Sunny Suljic and Raffey Cassidy). Steven meets his mentee, Martin (Barry Keoghan) at a diner. Martin has been looking up to Steven because he wants to aspire to become a cardiologist. Later, Steven invites Martin for dinner and has had a tragic past in which his father suffered a car accident and has been living with his mother (Alicia Silverstone, great to see her on-screen again). He has been acting weird but is also forming relationship with Kim. The next day, as Bob is running to school, he collapses and cannot feel his legs.


This is a difficult review because I cannot talk about how I felt and avoiding spoilers simultaneously because this is a cerebral horror movie that prompts you to go with the narrative and some will dislike this movie because of its execution of the main storyline as the chaos threatens Steven and his family. I will say that from a narrative perspective that it is an ingenious revenge tale that forms into an idiosyncratic family survival tale that is supported by horror elements that can boost you into cringeworthy moments of terror but in a more personal level because you root for this family to get out of this matter.

Colin Farell and Nicole Kidman continue their streak of strong performances especially the former because I think once he clicks on a performance with a good director, he is quite great. He is one of the most underrated actors in the industry. Coming off his performance from Dunkirk, Barry Keoghan gives a twisted performance and could provide some attention for his career as an actor. The only thing that prevents me from praising this movie is the dialogue because I felt like that half of what they are saying is stilted and felt more artificial than natural. Plus, the climax has a sluggish execution, however, it finishes well with a solid ending. I think this is a horror film that is disguised as a Greek tragedy that will disturbed some but will raise questions and think of this movie with a positive light. This is an ambitious movie with some solid direction from Lanthimos.

***


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