Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

lejlalaly Don't waste your time on watchings this failed wannabe art film. A complete waste of two hours of my life

gatheringsnow Yorgos Lanthimos's most recent and polarizing film, "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" seems to me like one of those films which one half of it's viewers absolutely will despise, and the other half will hail as an underrated masterpiece of psychological horror, somewhat akin to classics like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which by the way, shares many aesthetic elements with this film, and will undoubtedly inspire a slew of comparisons from people who feel it's ripping The Shining off, or working as something as an homage to it. Anyway, me personally I felt that it didn't work as a horror film in the same way that The Shining did, as it wasn't particularly frightening, lacking any jump-scares or the traditional elements of what many people consider trademarks of the horror genre nowadays, however for anyone familiar with Yorgos's previous films such as The Lobster and especially Dogtooth, not to mention the fact that this film was distributed by A24 Pictures, also responsible for such "art-house" type horror films like 2017s "It Comes at Night" or 2016's "The Witch" than you will quickly figure out that this film has far less in common with the likes of "Paranormal Activity" or "Unfriended" and much more in common with the films of Ingmar Bergman or Michael Haneke, both European "auteur" filmmakers who have a long history of making uncompromisingly dark and grim films which are a large hit among the Sundance crowd. What this film lacks in flashy visuals and gory death scenes in makes up for with an overwhelming sense of unease and despair which slowly, very slowly, ratchets up the tension and atmosphere as the film progresses and you learn more and more about the relationship and tragic history between the surgeon Dr. Murphy (Colin Farrell) and a strange, almost alien boy named Martin (Barry Keoghan). At first Martin just seems a bit awkward and geeky, the sort of quiet introverted type who always keeps a low profile in public and doesn't really speak much, but as the film progresses and he gets to know Murphy's wife and kids better, especially his teenaged daughter Kim (Raffey Cassidy) it quickly becomes clear that his odd, robotic mannerisms and way of speaking are more than just harmless quirks but the hallmarks of a truly sinister and dangerous youth who is hellbent on serving his own brand of retribution for an unforgivable act done to him by the father, but it's his family that must pay the ultimate price, and Dr. Murphy is eventually forced to make a horrific decision that inevitably will tear his family apart one way or the another. In "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" revenge truly is a dish served, cold and bleak. Many people will not like this film because many things are left unexplained at the end and it also features elements which many have seen as attempts at dark humor although I personally rarely found this film to be funny, just odd. The dialogue also is incredibly stilted and robotic, but this only works in favor of Martin, with everyone else it serves as a real crutch in allowing the audience to sympathize with their plight and comes off as very unnecessary and forced most of the time, and thus many who watch it will see it as being pretentious and laughable even though the lines themselves are delivered in a deadpan serious manner, and others will criticize it for being "weird for the sake of being weird" which I definitely feel is a legitimate criticism as the film is filled with "weird" scenes which seem to make little or no sense on the first viewing, so overall whether or not you enjoy the film will be based on whether or not your able to look past the surface level and dive deep into the hidden metaphors and allegories lurking around every corner, waiting to be analyzed by those of a more analytical mindset, anyway, I know this review may come off as incredibly meandering or even pretentious itself, but I do genuinely feel that it's the sort of film you need to watch more than once to truly understand, but that's just my take on it.

jsph_calabrese This satirical and tragic fable is extremely relevant and scathing in a year in which Hollywood has been harrowed by the surfacing of buried transgressions, and further, in an age where we as a society evade responsibility and guilt at all costs. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) has an uncanny ability for exposing human insanity and takes aim at justice through his omniscient surrogate Martin, one of the most sinister and riveting movie antagonists of recent memory.The story is clearly inspired by the Greek myth Iphigenia in Aulis, but could also be viewed as an absurdist retelling of God's testing of Abraham with Isaac. Lanthimos once again incorporates his trademark dialogue (flat, affected, overly expository, humorous), but here he seems to also be channeling his adoration for Stanley Kubrick: horror elements, extensive use of classical music, long tracking shots, one point perspective, deeply unsettling imagery, and studying of the dark depths of human nature. The psychosexual underpinnings call Eyes Wide Shut to mind, while the careful attention to detail and chaos evokes feelings of watching The Shining. Only time will tell if it achieves similar cult status.

floriskempen Completely waste of your precious time. One life, live it! So please skip this movie, it's crap! Why the hell did Farrell and Kidman ever said yes to this movie??