The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Intense. Can hardly breathe throughout the film

Brought in by Anticipate Film by Vincent who specialises in European, American independent films and one other genre

Film begins with a cropped shot of a heart in open surgery. Pumping. With the pancreas? It stayed that way for a good one min. Was terribly painful to watch. Next we see the lead actor of the show, Steven, a surgeon (Colin Farrell) getting out of the operating theatre. He chats with the anaesthesiologist and good friend, Matthew, about watches. All in that strange clipped tone.

He goes home to his big house, beautiful wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and two beautiful children, Kim and Bob. They're a totally artificial family, speaking in formal short sentences to each other and never asking beneath the surface. Kim does singing lessons and Bob refuses to cut his hair so he looks like a girl. They chat about buying a piano all in very cordial terms.

But the couple have very strange sex games which include "paralysis" of the wife. And lemon curd.

He first meets Martin at a dive. Martin is the classmate of Kim. He aspires to be like Steven, a surgeon. Next they drive to the sea and have this strange exchange of how're you? Steven looks at him with fatherly love. Martin is invited to their home for dinner, and Martin turns on the charm, such that even Anna takes a liking to him. Martin gets Kim to go for a walk with him. She likes him and sang "Burning by Ellie Golding" under a tree, picked up smoking from him, wants to have sex with him and rides pillion without a helmet.

Martin inches his way closer with the family. Good lemonade? Why not come over to my place. My mom (played by Alicia Silverstone) makes good lemonade too. Steven has dinner with Martin's mom and with him, obliges to stay and watch a movie upon Martin's request but strangely in the middle of the movie, Martin goes to bed, leaving only mother and Steven. Her come on line: what beautiful hands you have. I know surgeons have beautiful hands but none are as beautiful as yours. Mother proceeds to suck his fingers. Yummy. Steven declines her advanced and leaves but doesn't tell his wife what happened.

One morning, Bob cannot stand up. Thinking he was just faking it, Steven proceeds to play a game with him in the hospital where they have to tell each other secrets. Steven's was when he first started masturbating. He was a kid about Bob's age and he touched his dad's penis when his dad was super drunk. Except that Bob was not faking his paralysis. Steven threatens to cut his hair and make Bob eat it if he was faking it. And even though Bob can't eat, Steven forced him to. After numerous tests including a spinal cord extraction of fluid, all doctors find no cause for his illness.

Martin tells Steven first stage is loss of feelings in the limbs. Next is unable to eat. The Third stage is bleeding and finally death. So Martin's dad passed away in surgery and he was operated upon by Steven and Matthew as anaesthesiologist. An eye for an eye. Steven's wife and children must pay for the price. Kim was next to go and that happened abruptly during choir practice of that beautiful Christmas choral, Carol of The Bells.

The rebellious teenage daughter scolds her mom under her breathe and got a phone confiscated. She was speaking to Martin and during this time managed to overcome her paralysis to look for Martin by the window. He was not there. Mind over matter. The illness could be psychological if Steven had sought psychological help for this children, as mentioned by Anna who's also a doctor. Eventually the parents moved the children back because there was no other way treatments. They have undergone the two stages each.

Anna looks for Martin in his home. Martin tells of how Steven had dinner with them and he approves of Steven and his mom getting together. Steven has beautiful hands and his mom likes him since her husband has been killed. To all couples: never hide things from each other. Communicate daily. If someone tries to break you up with words, defend each other at all cost.

Steven tries to hunt down Martin at his home to no avail. One day Steven reveals to his wife that he had Martin kept at their basement. Martin had been badly beaten. Despite his injuries, Martin still has that unflinching, challenging look in his eyes. When the wife is not in the room, Martin attacks Steven and bit off the flesh on his arm. Martin bit off his own flesh too. An eye for an eye.

Kim toys around with Bob saying his dad would choose that only she lives. Her dad loves her better and even got a Steinway shipped from God knows where. One child must go.

Kim sneaks down to the basement one day and begs Martin to make her better. He was expressionless. Can he not or does he not want to? She drags herself out of the house and is carried home by dad, knees all bloodied. She mutters all those crazy words like a cult as he dresses her wounds and begs that he chooses her. She betrays her brother with a kiss on her dad parallel to how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

Anna cleans and dresses the wounds of Martin with her two children. She kisses both his feet showing her servitude and service for Martin. And begs that he help them. I don't think he can actually. This whole scenario could be really psychological. Why else would the mom not be affected by paralysis?

She releases Martin and incurs his wrath