The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  9 / 10

  The Killing of a Sacred Deer clinically injects dark psychological humour into a thriller that mentally exhausted me. Oh. My. God. I'm honestly flabbergasted. My breathing has never been so rapid, my palms have never been so sweaty and I've never exclaimed "what am I even watching!?" so frequently since experiencing 'The Neon Demon'. I...I just need a moment to gather my thoughts and catch my breath. A cardiologist and his family welcome a seemingly innocent young boy to their home. What simply was one dinner has now turned into a psychological game of life and death. That's the best plot description I can give without spoiling this twisted story. The pure dementedness, the uncomfortable dialogue, the uneasy monotonous acting and even the psychologically challenging characters. Everything about this was emotively brutal, and I absolutely loved it. Loooooved it! Lanthimos has outdone himself, his directing style was clean consisting of distant static shots and gradual zoom ins, increasingly enhancing the apprehension. The concision of the dialogue was genius, everyone communicates with utter clarity with no interruptions or talking over one another. The lack of emotion and manners adds to the tormented nature of these characters. There comes a point where the father is faced with an ultimatum, and the fact he actually considers one of the options is scarily horrific. I questioned my own sanity. These characters are terrifying, and the unpredictability of the plot will keep you on edge. Kidman and Farrell were perfect, but Keoghan was exceptional. Every body movement and every word spoken was ominously edgy. The pacing dipped towards the penultimate act and a few scenes could've been cut for a tighter story. However, I was so uncomfortable watching this, as if the film was crawling under my skin, that it worked. Contemporary darkness in all its psychological glory. One of the best thrillers I've seen in months, and much better than Lanthimos' previous film 'The Lobster'. I shan't be eating spaghetti for a while or singing Ellie Goulding's 'Burn'.

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