Summary
When a confident and in-control surgeon, Steven’s young men-tee, Martin, informs him that Steven’s son’s mysterious illness can only be stopped by a horrifying act, he must make the hardest choice he has ever had to make.
My Thoughts
The first time I saw “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” I’ll admit I was disappointed. I had just seen “The Lobster” for the first time and was still reeling from the revelation of comedy I had found it to be.
KOASD (The Killing of a Sacred Deer) is not a comedy. In fact, most of the time the emotions, even love, are so reserved that it feels very different from a typical drama. The story seemed like a fairly simple one of a man’s single choice, “so why is it two hours long?” I thought.
Upon a second viewing, however, the themes began to present themselves more vividly. Steven’s controlling nature, his inability to rationally understand his situation, and his family’s schemes to endear themselves to him, all serve to explore the themes of control, empathy, belief, knowledge, and action. Once a viewer throws traditional narrative structure out the window, they become free to explore a sort of thought exercise or ethics class dilemma come to life.
As I studied theology in my early and mid twenties, I would run across questions like these all the time. What would you do if a person who wasn’t a Christian came forward for communion? What if God had decided to send Christ during the time of Abraham, instead of Pontius Pilate? What if you were hiding Jews and the Nazis asked if you were hiding anyone?
These are the sorts of questions that this film takes seriously. What if you had to kill your wife or one of your children in order to save the other two?
Steven, presented to us sublimely by Colin Farrell (“In Bruges”), wrestles with this question like a tortured Sisyphus, always coming up with ideas only to have them come to naught. Repeat until despair settles in.
The rest of the cast, Nicole Kidman (“Eyes Wide Shut”), Sunny Suljic (“mid90s”), and Raffey Cassidy (“Vox Lux”) perform brilliantly, but the real stand out for me was Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk,” “American Animals”.) If you aren’t watching this actor’s career, you are making a mistake.
Barry’s character, Martin, is interested in Steven’s medical practice so Steven takes him under his wing, even presenting him with gifts. Martin is an odd duck, however, obsessed with Steven’s body and how his own might be similar or dissimilar, seemingly trying to hook his mother up with Steven, and ultimately presenting Steven with the most horrible decision.
In many ways, Martin seems more interested in having Steven as a father than a mentor (not surprisingly as revelations emerge) and when these efforts are rejected, he lashes out with an ultimatum. At times, it feels like Martin is in control over the diseases that wreak havoc on the small family but at others, it seems like it is not a think he has agency over, no matter what Steven believes.
This character is wonderfully enigmatic and complicated making him feel like a stand in for God, the Devil, all manner of impish tricksters, and on top of it all, broken innocence.
These are the main focus of KOASD, though I was not able to see it at first. I’m glad I re-watched it and feel that if you dismissed this as Yorgos Lanthimos’ lesser film, you should really give it another shot. If you haven’t seen it, now is the time to do it, with his latest film “The Favourite” being nominated for Best Picture. Just, be ready for something a little different from his comedically motivated films.
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