Saturday 18 November 2017

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Yorgos Lathimos' previous film, "The Lobster", was a favourite film of mine two years ago. A deadpan investigation of how people choose to parter or not to partner, it was simultaneously hilarious and deeply melancholy, set in a universe of extremists where happy compromise was not possible. "Sacred Deer" is similar in shape while being completely different in subject matter. the deadpan performance turns out to be one of the best ways to utilise Colin Farrell - a lot of his performances in both hides just below the surface as he's clearly freaked the hell out by what's going on around him but trying very hard not to communicate that to the people around him. But here, the subject is far bigger, about revenge and brutal uncaring justice meted out across generations, and the resolution is both inevitable and grim as fate works its inevitable way through Farrell's family.

I don't want to get into the plot too much, as some of the intriguing factors of the film require you to go in with very little knowledge of what's coming (in particular, the nature of the relationship between two of the characters in the beginning of the film). But if you're interested in something tense and enduring and incredibly appealing, this is definitely worth seeing.


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