The Killing of a Sacred Deer

[MoonDust]

The vast majority in the showing I went to clearly knew what they were in for but I'd imagine the film may well set a record for walk outs.

I'd say the farce and tragedy in his work tend to go hand in hand, each playing up the other, that scene with the biscuit woman trying to commit suicide in the Lobster as Farrell looks to impress the heartless woman with his cold disinterest comes to mind.

Not sure I saw I anyone walk out, but I got the impression half the audience didn't know what they were in for. Two of the people in my group of four had never seen a Lanthamos film before, but both liked weird films. So one came out loving it and now wants to see the rest of Lanthamos' films, the other wasn't impressed; thought it was too boring. Clearly she's into way weirder shit.

Speaking of his others, I might trawl the charity shops/CeX for Dogtooth.

[greenman]

Dogtooth shouldn't be that hard to find, my local HMV had it relatively cheaply last time I was in and its not that large, The Alps as well which I bought but haven't gotten around to watching yet.

[MoonDust]

Well I went round all the charity shops within a bus ride and couldn't find it. Couldn't be arsed going into the city centre, though. I did however find The Silence of the Lambs in Cancer Research which I was wanting to watch last week only to see it wasn't on Netflix (haven't seen it in about 10 years). So that's my evening sorted.

[greenman]

I found Exotica in the local Heart Foundation charity shop a few weeks ago so its possible.

[zomgmouse]

A surprising amount were laughing at bits. Some were awkward laughs admittedly. That scene at the end had a fair few people laughing surprisingly. Maybe it was the farce of it, rather than the darkness of it.

I saw it in a sold out session in a pretty massive theatre with a film festival crowd and there was quite a lot of laughter. I guess partly it's the shock of certain situations but to be fair there was also quite a lot of funny stuff in it as well.

[Billy]

The scene where the Dad tells his son his "secret" was bloody hilarious. The combination of the dialog and Colin Farrell's overly serious, hushed delivery, and the moment afterwards when his son says he doesn't have any. Sadly I was in a quiet screening and felt too self-conscious to laugh externally.

[lipsink]

Yep, that cracked our cinema up too. Didn't it come just after he lifts his son out of the chair, trails him down a corridor and then just lets him fall on his face? That made me laugh but not the rest my f the cinema.

[Maow]

Has anyone seen his earliest films, My Best Friend and Kinetta? I don't think the first one has ever been released in Britain

I have copies of both but I've not yet watched. I've heard that My Best Friend is lighter in tone and not really comparable his later work (maybe because Lanthimos isn't the sole director, maybe because he was still learning the craft). Have you seen them? If you are after copies, maybe I can help.

[Wet Blanket]

I don't need copies but would be interested to know what you think of them when you get round to watching. (I've yet to see either myself, but Kinetta certainly looks to be in a similar vein to the rest of his work)

[Maow]

Sure. I've been intending to watch all his movies at some point soon, part of a broader goal of tackling entire filmographies of some directors. I'll try to report back, anyway, when I do.

[grassbath]

Really liked Dogtooth - haven't seen any of his other films - but I thought this was wank. For a film that clearly thought it was big and serious and dark and clever, the black humour and intentionally stilted dialogue sat very awkwardly, especially with Farrell. By two thirds through I was wishing for it to end.

[zomgmouse]

Really liked Dogtooth - haven't seen any of his other films - but I thought this was wank. For a film that clearly thought it was big and serious and dark and clever, the black humour and intentionally stilted dialogue sat very awkwardly, especially with Farrell. By two thirds through I was wishing for it to end.

I would say the black humour and intentionally stilted dialogue enhanced its dark and clever nature - I wouldn't say it thought it was that "big and serious", though.

[MoonDust]

To be fair all his films have intentionally stilted dialogue, even Dogtooth. I think it's just harder to recognise because it's in Greek. Much easier to notice when they're speaking in your native tongue like in Sacred Deer and the Lobster. But yeah, intentionally stilted dialogue is a hallmark of all of Lanthimos' films, not just this latest one.

[greenman]

Farrell does I'd say deliver the stilted dialog style better than anyone else in his English language films, the scene in the Lobster were the biscuit womans just jumped from the first floor and he's trying to impress the heartless woman with his indifference comes to mind.

It will be interesting to see whether Lanthimos shifts style with The Favourite next year that on the face of it looks to be aimed more at mainstream audiences.

[MoonDust]

It will be interesting to see whether Lanthimos shifts style with The Favourite next year that on the face of it looks to be aimed more at mainstream audiences.

I don't know about that. Although on the face of it it looks like a typical period drama, Rachel Weisz in an interview said not to be fooled by the setting and plot, it's still pure Lanthamos and weird as hell.

[greenman]

I don't know about that. Although on the face of it it looks like a typical period drama, Rachel Weisz in an interview said not to be fooled by the setting and plot, it's still pure Lanthamos and weird as hell.

I wouldn't expect a tiotal shift to normalcy but the dialog style perhaps? he certainly has a lot more arrows to his bow that just that in terms of being off kilter.

[MoonDust]

I wouldn't expect a tiotal shift to normalcy but the dialog style perhaps? he certainly has a lot more arrows to his bow that just that in terms of being off kilter.

Oh absolutely. I wasn't suggesting the dialogue style is the only thing that makes his films "weird".

[garbed_attic]

I really disliked it... but I was also one of the only people in the cinema laughing... which was really odd!

His characters all talk like people on the Aspergers spectrum reciting Pinter fanfic.

I guess if it had woozier music it could have almost been an extended sketch from Jam!

I think maybe I've grown far more intolerant of magic realist tropes in my old age or allegory which is really loosely defined.

[MoonDust]

To those who haven't seen Dogtooth, the BFI is offering a 30-day free trial of its subscription service where they have 400 films on demand. One of them is Dogtooth!

If you want to carry on after the trial I think it's £4.99 a month, which is cheaper than Netflix, and good if you're into world and independent cinema more than mainstream stuff. (On a slight tangent ever since Netflix started focussing more on TV series its film content and choice has got really fucking shiiiiite.)

[Small Man Big Horse]

This is now available online, I enjoyed watching it a lot and the first hour was strangely unsettling, but after the reveal I couldn't really take it seriously. The score was a little too manipulative, and despite trying really hard I found myself laughing even at the darker more twisted scenes, (like Bob's death, which I'm pretty sure you weren't meant to find funny.) I felt it just pushed the limits of absurdity a little too hard (Farrell asking the headmaster which child was the best being the glaring example), and by the end I didn't really care who he murdered as long as he got round to killing one of them. I was hoping for Kidman personally, but I guess you can't have it all. Oh yeah, and on that front, his plan was bloody awful and he could have spun around for ages without hitting someone, I was even a bit disappointed that it only took three goes.

[zomgmouse]

I found myself laughing even at the darker more twisted scenes

That was the point, wasn't it?

[greenman]

This is now available online, I enjoyed watching it a lot and the first hour was strangely unsettling, but after the reveal I couldn't really take it seriously. The score was a little too manipulative, and despite trying really hard I found myself laughing even at the darker more twisted scenes, (like Bob's death, which I'm pretty sure you weren't meant to find funny.) I felt it just pushed the limits of absurdity a little too hard (Farrell asking the headmaster which child was the best being the glaring example), and by the end I didn't really care who he murdered as long as he got round to killing one of them. I was hoping for Kidman personally, but I guess you can't have it all. Oh yeah, and on that front, his plan was bloody awful and he could have spun around for ages without hitting someone, I was even a bit disappointed that it only took three goes.

As has been said I think these scenes were definitely played for comedy as well as drama, I don't think that holds that one damages the other though. Beyond that as well I think the film is looking to flip expectations...

We'd normally expect Farrell's family to play the role of innocent victims and if anything be demanding that there the one to be killed. That they and especially Kidman don't do this and instead lookout for themselves obviously reverses it, disliking a mother who claims one of her children should be killed in her place because they can have others isn't unreasonable. Its also surely why she wasn't killed and arguably the most innocent of the family was instead, the staredown with Martin at the end in the diner is surely there to highlight that they've been tested and have failed.

[Small Man Big Horse]

That was the point, wasn't it?

Well I wasn't sure to be honest, a lot of reviews single out the murderous ending as being abjectly horrendous (it's one of the AV Club's "Scenes of the Year" for supposedly being so traumatic) whereas I just found it funny.

We'd normally expect Farrell's family to play the role of innocent victims and if anything be demanding that there the one to be killed. That they and especially Kidman don't do this and instead lookout for themselves obviously reverses it, disliking a mother who claims one of her children should be killed in her place because they can have others isn't unreasonable. Its also surely why she wasn't killed and arguably the most innocent of the family was instead, the staredown with Martin at the end in the diner is surely there to highlight that they've been tested and have failed.

I get what you mean about Kidman and the kids, though I interpreted the ending differently, in that the daughter looked like she still had feelings for Martin and Farrell was wondering if he murdered the wrong one. I could be so so wrong about that though, it's not a theory I'm even 70% sure of.

[MoonDust]

Don't worry, I laughed at that scene too.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Don't worry, I laughed at that scene too.

That's good to hear. Or we're both sick monsters. It's one or the other. ;)

[zomgmouse]

Yeah I saw this in a pretty big auditorium and people laughed at the shotgun spinning scene for sure. It's definitely funny in a fucked way.

[Small Man Big Horse]

So would you say it's a black comedy rather than a horror? That's how I found myself enjoying it, but it goes against most of the reviews I've read.

[garbed_attic]

So would you say it's a black comedy rather than a horror? That's how I found myself enjoying it, but it goes against most of the reviews I've read.

If it had had more woozy ambient music it would have been like an extended sketch from Jam.

[zomgmouse]

So would you say it's a black comedy rather than a horror? That's how I found myself enjoying it, but it goes against most of the reviews I've read.

I'd say those two epithets are in no way mutually exclusive. I think it's definitely a black comedy and a psychological thriller at the same time.

[Steven]

I'd say those two epithets are in no way mutually exclusive. I think it's definitely a black comedy and a psychological thriller at the same time.

I also found the whole dead-pan nature of everyone a bit humerous, like The Lobster, there's a lot of flaunting our social rules in a very unemotional way, subjects we tend to associate with embarrasment or laughter.

Bit like the final horror of Polanski's The Tenant being the crux of a Chris Morris Jam sketch?