Yorgos Lanthimos has indeed established a name for his distinctive, unnerving, and oftentimes compared to early Stanley Kubrick films. His films blend genres by including humor, drama, tragedy, or horror aspects without ever fully settling on a certain genre label. Characters converse with one another in an odd, almost robotic manner in Lanthimos’ films, which is another distinguishing feature.
Yorgos Lanthimos directed a psychologically suspenseful film titled The Killing Of A Sacred Deer. It’s one of his most well-known movies from 2017, in which the son of a dying patient appears to be cursing cardiac surgeon Steven and invades his family and life before seeking karma for what occurred to his father. Colin Farrell plays Steven in The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, and Barry Keoghan is fascinating as Martin, the unlikable kid who begins tearing apart Steven’s life until Steven is forced to make an agonizing decision.
The Greek tale of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon, is the source of the title of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer. In the Greek tale that served as the basis for Sacred Deer, the latter is told to sacrifice Iphigenia in order to atone for killing a sacred deer owned by the goddess Artemis. The movie itself makes reference to this tale, and director Yorgos Lanthimos is not at all coy about the core tenet of his narrative.
What happens in The Killing Of A Scared Deer?
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is, in some ways, Yorgos Lanthimos’ most straightforward, explicitly stated narrative to date, with its most straightforward, obviously clear conclusion. It is immediately apparent that The Killing Of A Sacred Deer won’t be a happy ending for anyone, with things picking up steam at the halfway point. The family continues to the pretense that everything is okay, despite the fact that it is not.
Steven constantly refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. The death of Martin’s father is a good example of this; it may have been an accident, but the reality that Steven had consumed alcohol the day of the operation makes it difficult to determine who is to blame.
It all started taking place when one morning, Bob discovered that he had gone paralyzed and could not feel his legs. He is rushed to the hospital by Steven and Anna, where an inspection confirms that nothing is physically wrong. Martin contacts Steven the following morning and tells him the truth: his father actually passed away during the surgery Steven performed after the accident, not in the collision.
Martin warns Dr. Steven Murphy that unless one of his family members is killed, the rest of Steven’s family will perish from an unknown illness with unknown symptoms as a result of the mistake Steven made during Martin’s father’s surgery, which led to his death. He tells Steve that Bob, Anna, and Kim will pass away in three stages: paralysis, starvation caused by one-self, and bleeding from the eyes.
Steven makes an effort to refute these allegations but discovers that Bob is avoiding eating later. Martin pays Kim a visit while she is at the Murphys’ home. She confesses her love to him and begins to undress, but Martin excuses himself, stating that he must return home. Soon later, Kim passes out at a school choir practice, her legs going numb, and she stops wanting to eat.
Bob and Kim quarrel about their father’s decision. Anna “logically” argues that it is preferable to kill one of the kids so they can have yet another. Kim offers to die and expresses her love for her brother and parents. Later that evening, Steven looks intently at his wife as she sleeps.
Bob begins to bleed to death from the eyes, making Steven becomes more and more desperate. As a result, Steven, in the final scene of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, instead of making a decision, Steven duct-tapes Kim, Bob, and Anna, wraps their heads, and slips a wool hat over his own face. He spins around while loading a gun and firing carelessly. As a result of this, Steve shoots his son Bob at random while spinning in a circle and covering his eyes.
The Murphy family, without Bob, is shown in the closing scene eating at a diner. When Martin enters, he observes them without their youngest. They all get up and walk away while taking turns looking at Martin as he stands behind the desk and stares at them, underscoring the unworthiness of his offering as he did not select which child to present.
