The Killing of a Sacred Deer(2017) by Yorgos Lathimos
The Killing of a Sacred Deer(2017) is a film by Yorgos Lanthimos which follows a heart surgeon named Steven, who has befriended a boy, Martin, who as well as having altogether strange mannerisms, is also the son of a man who died during heart surgery under Steven’s knife. From the beginning of the film it is clear that the boy, Martin, does not fully understand boundaries, and often turns up to Steven’s work unannounced, however, the family welcome him into their lives, the daughter, Kim, taking a liking to Martin. The two become close and begin spending more and more time together. Steven and his family lead a fairly happy and normal life, not counting Stevens peculiar sexual interest, but this is soon turned upside-down when their son, Bob (strange name for a child), becomes ill. As the family try to understand the mystery illness that has left Bob paralysed and unable to eat, Martin explains to Steven that unless he kills a member of his family, they will all die slowly, one by one. This is his revenge for the death of Martin’s father. Steven tells this to his wife, Anna and the couple dismiss the claims, however soon Kim falls ill with the same symptoms. Anna learns that Steven was drunk the day of Martin’s father’s operation and so the death was caused by negligence. Steven frets over what to do, while Anna tries to convince him that one of the children should be killed as they can ‘have another.” He kidnaps Martin and tortures him in the hopes that he will stop what is happening while the children both desperately make their case to their parents of why each should be spared. In the end, when Bob is hours away from death, Steven decides to take the choice out of his hands and ties his wife and children to chairs in a circle. He spins round whilst blindfolded, and eventually shoots Bob.
The sound design is quite basic in this film. The same use of low drones and high strings that can be heard in Hereditary(2018) can be heard, however in my opinion, there is less attention to detail in terms of audio in general. For a large chunk of the film Martin would not seem like a threat, if it were not for the music. The ominous music indicates that there is at least something off about him right from the beginning. This music seems to follow him around as it is generally present when he is. This music can also be heard when the children fall sick. The situations in which the music is used show that Martin is the cause of the illnesses.
The film opens with a closeup of open-heart surgery. Opera music plays over the top of this. The music is powerful and divine in nature. I believe that the purpose of this is to compare the surgeon to God, as he is playing with life and death. Throughout the film it becomes evident that he is by no means in control and we find out who is. The last scene of the film shows Martin and again, the same music plays. He is the ‘divine one’ who has the real power over the family and to control life and death.
A lot of emphasis has been put on awkwardness and monotonality in terms of dialogue. All the characters speak with a complete lack of emotion, especially Martin. I think that the purpose of this may have been to mimic the clinical nature of hospitals, which are heavily involved in the film, however in my opinion, this technique is overly jarring and does not add anything important to the narrative.
While I think that the metaphors in The Killing of a Sacred Deer are somewhat over the top and pretentious, the film does tackle loss in an interesting way. While other films sympathise with the characters who are dealing with loss, this film uses loss to fuel the intentions of the antagonist. While Martin’s actions are extreme and his character as a whole is hard to sympathise with, there is motive to what he does.
