If there’s one director whose entire filmography is consistently horror-adjacent, it would have to be Yorgos Lanthimos. The Athenian filmmaker is mostly known for his absurdist dramas, but nearly all of his movies feature some form of horrific undercurrent beneath the offbeat dialogue and odd characters. And while his 2023 feature Poor Things wears its horror influences on its Frankenstein-inspired sleeves, today I’d like to look back on the director’s most effortlessly terrifying film – 2017’s psychological thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
After reaching mainstream critical acclaim with 2015’s The Lobster, Lanthimos was basically given carte blanche on his next strange project. Borrowing the premise of an ancient Greek play, his next film would be a modern-day tragedy co-written by Efthymis Filippou and financed by Irish and British production companies. And like Yorgo’s previous English-language project, The Killing of a Sacred Deer would also benefit from a star-studded cast of both returning collaborators and newcomers.
In the finished film, Collin Farrell stars as Steven Murphy, a Cincinnati heart surgeon whose family becomes the subject of a mysterious curse once he meets Martin (Barry Keoghan), the son of a patient who died on the operating table. As Steven’s wife (Nicole Kidman) and children slowly succumb to a seemingly supernatural illness, Martin reveals that the only way out of this “curse” is to sacrifice a member of Steven’s family.
The flick mostly plays out like an arthouse drama rather than a traditional scary movie, but both critics and audiences were quick to call it one of the most unsettling experiences of 2017 back when it first came out. In fact, plenty of writers referred to the film as a great example of psychological horror despite the movie not really featuring any overt scares or aesthetic elements commonly associated with the genre.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is just as meticulously crafted and visually compelling as Yorgos’ previous output, though I’d argue that there’s an increased amount of polish here that makes it stand out among the director’s other films.
I mean, the visuals alone are stunning, with cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis going so far as to incorporate elements from the art of Edward Hopper into certain shots so that the picture feels appropriately lonely. There’s an intentional distance (not to mention awkwardness) to every frame, and it’s amazing to watch Lanthimos extract tension from virtually nothing as these characters go about their days even before they get sick.
That’s not even mentioning the incredible performances, with nearly every character being given a chance to shine as a part of this eerie hyper-reality. Colin Farrell has always been one of my favorite actors, so I may be a little biased when I say that this is one of his meatiest roles, but even I have to admit he’s actually outshined by Nicole Kidman’s desperate housewife (who has some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the film) and our bizarre “antagonist.”
After all, the real stand-out here is Barry Keoghan. From his overall strange demeanor to his ominous line-deliveries, Martin is half the reason that this is such a memorable film in the first place. It takes a real thespian to make eating spaghetti feel like a genuine threat, and kudos to Keoghan for making his awkward dialogue feel completely spontaneous.
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
There are plenty of legitimately scary movies out there, but I’d argue that dread is much more difficult to convey on celluloid than passing frights. We’ve all had nightmares about being chased by a monster or haunted by a demon, but how exactly do you depict that nagging irrational feeling that things aren’t exactly what they seem and we’re heading towards imminent doom?
Naturally, “difficult” isn’t the same as “impossible,” and The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the rare film that actually manages to scare viewers purely through the use of atmosphere. Between the unseen entity bringing pestilence down on the family and a remarkably eerie soundtrack, the general vibe here makes you feel like you’re only moments away from disaster. Hell, Yorgos even doubles down on the uncomfortable factor by including real footage of heart surgery in the flick, as well as some intentionally cringe-inducing moments of uncomfortable sexuality.
And when it comes to the aforementioned performances, some of the strange character interactions here remind me of the peculiar voice-acting in early survival horror games like the Silent Hill series, with the odd voices giving the experience an otherworldly feel that enhances the horror instead of detracting from it. This may sound like a jab at the film, but I honestly think that it wouldn’t be as impactful without the awkward deliveries.
There’s also the matter of that shocking finale (which still hits like a brass-knuckled gut-punch despite being hinted at during the entire experience), but I’d rather not spoil the moment for readers who haven’t yet seen the film. Suffice to say that Yorgos doesn’t shy away from the brutal bits of the story.
Bizarre yet meaningful, eerie yet compelling, it’s hard to put The Killing of a Sacred Deer into a box. Objectively, much of the film is comprised of wide shots of an upper-class family walking around looking worried and occasionally getting into stiff conversations, but it’s still somehow one of the most uncomfortable cinematic experiences in recent memory. That’s why I’d recommend it to horror fans who don’t mind their horror with a side of ambiguous Greek tragedy.
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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