Tuesday 12 December 2017

Film: 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer'

I'd been greatly regretting having missed this film through circum-stances on its original screen distribution six weeks ago. But then a Heaven-sent, belated, additional opportunity came my way and I seized it.

It's one of those profoundly disturbing films where I wished I'd seen it in the comfort of company and been able to discuss it afterwards. (The film's title becomes clear as it progresses - no animals are involved, only peripheral glimpses of a family dog, unharmed.)

Director Yorgos Lanthimos was responsible for last year's compelling 'The Lobster' (also starring Colin Farrell) and he's here pulled off another haunting feature, though much, much darker.

Filmed in Cincinatti, Farrell is a hospital surgeon, leading invasive operations, the film commencing with close view of two minutes of open-heart surgery (forewarned, I could avert my eyes for the duration) with a seemingly idyllic family life - wife (Nicole Kidman) plus teenage daughter and younger son. (We saw Farrell and Kidman together as recently as in this year's 'The Beguiled'). 
The surgeon has struck up a cordial but matter-of-fact relationship with a teenage boy (Barry Keoghan - creepily convincing), the son of a man he'd operated on previously (the subject of the open-heart surgery at the start). At first we wonder who this boy actually is and what is he doing being so friendly with Farrell - and why, indeed, is the latter letting him get so close at all. Slowly as things reveal it becomes creepier and things start to impinge on the surgeon's life and, crucially, on his family. It would be a spoiler to give any more away but, boy oh boy, it does venture into very dark territory! I was drawn in almost against my will but felt forced to keep watching, dreading the next turn, which only realised my worst fears. The tension is screwed up extremely tightly, it being clear that I wasn't the only audience member who was transfixed.

I must admit to some relief when it was over. Being put through an emotional wringer can leave ones nerves in shreds as well as being thoroughly satisfying. 

Farrell is excellent - this film confirms yet again that he can play vulnerable and fragile as effectively as hard-man or criminal. Kidman is also as good as she always is, though I felt that her role here was slightly underwritten, particulatly as compared with Farrell's.

Lanthimos' directing (he's also the co-writer) is exemplary throughout, could hardly be bettered, in fact. Time and again I was reminded of Kubrick (as well as some Hitchcock) in the roving camera work, up and down lengthy hospital corridors, with occasional long-shots, sometimes in silence.

A film that well paid off my yearning to catch it. Not a film for the faint-hearted or for those of a nervous disposition, but there's no doubt it's a film of disturbing (and grisly) 'significance'............8.






12 comments:

  1. I am glad you got to see it in the end Ray. This is the film I made a note to see the minute I read about it at the Cannes Film Festival. It was surely going to be a great film and it did not disappoint. I disagree about Nicole Kidman, I thought her "understated role" as you call it, was deliberate to built the tension surrounding the family. The young girl is a Manchester school girl now completing her GCSE studies in her first major role. I am now waiting for my next listed film which I think will be the film of the year, Menashe. It is not yet on at a cinema near me, sadly.

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    1. My cinema-going year would have been lacking if I'd not seen this, Rachel. It was almost as though the gods had heard my prayer!

      I'm aware that not everyone is a fan of Nicole K., but I most definitely am. I think she's a very fine actress and can never see enough of her - though that is why I was just a little disappointed that she didn't have more to do in this. However, what she does do, even when silent, is essential to the film's development. But on the surface at least, it's clearly Farrell's film.

      I wasn't aware that the girl (Kim Murphy) wasn't American, which she managed very well.

      Judging from the buzz that 'Menashe's' getting, I'd be most surprised if it doesn't come to your local art-house cinema. I might have given it a miss before now but I'll be looking out for it.

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    2. I think Nicole Kidman is fabulous. She played her role stupendously. I read about the girl, although I don't remember her first name being Kim, at Cannes and she had not at the time seen the film right through and was back in class in Manchester.

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    3. Sorry, Rachel. The girl's name is Raffey Cassidy - Kim was her name in the film. Thanks for the hint to re-check it.

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    4. Sorry, had to delete due to error. I will begin again. I couldn't be bothered to look up her name Ray. I love your reviews. Our style is very different but that is quite fun I think.

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    5. I like it where you (and others) disagree with me as much or maybe even more than where we are of one mind. It adds an 'edge' to blogging and, when it remains in courteous terms, is a good, healthy way to challenge ones attitudes, which itself ought to have a positive effect.

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  2. It sounds like something I would enjoy...thanks for the review!

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    1. Prepare to have your fingernails either bitten down, J, or dimimished through clinging onto the seat arm-rests. Not sure that 'enjoy' would be the correct word but 'remembering' it you certainly will!

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  3. I'd like to see this one. I love Colin Farrell, for one main reason, but I also love that he's becoming such a fine actor and not just a handsome face.
    And having just seen Kidman in big Little Lies and Rabbit Hole, she is truly gifted.

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    1. As you can see, Bob, that 'handsome face' is largely hidden behind a grizzled bushy growth, but you can't take away from him that he's a hellishly good actor with a wide range.

      'Big Little Lies, I didn't see and it's a mystery why I missed it - it's got a very high rating on IMDb. However, I did see 'Rabbit Hole' way back in 2010 and loved it.

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    1. Drag the Prof along, J.G. - or Mrs Trellis. You'll need someone to hold onto!

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