2017’s utterly savage and entertaining movie The Killing Of A Sacred Deer finally landed on Netflix, but many viewers were left confused after watching. To make the streaming experience better for our viewers, here we have The Killing Of A Sacred Deer explained so that you can all make sense of everything happening in the movie.
Before streaming the movie, many people (count me in) thought it was based on the life of a deer or something like that. Silly us! It turns out that The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is a psychological thriller based on the ancient Greek tragedy Iphigenia at Aulis by the tragedian Euripides. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer brings a modern twist to the ancient tragedy and follows the story of a cardiac surgeon and a teenage boy.
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The Killing Of A Sacred Deer Explained | An Enthralling Experience Ending On A Strange Note!
Due to the movie’s ties with ancient Greek mythology and its unsettling, eerie vibe, The killing Of A Sacred Deer needs to be explained from the narrator’s point of view. Understanding a movie from textual representation rather than visual display may not be the most exciting thing for film lovers, but for the sake of a better understanding, things like this need to be done more than often.
Before you dive into this explanation, please know that the space ahead is full of spoilers from The Killing Of A Sacred Deer.
Run Time: 2h 1m
IMDb Rating: 7/10
Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix
Cast Of the Movie: Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Nicole Kidman
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Popular Opinions On The Killing Of A Sacred Deer | Yorgos Brings A psychological Thriller To Big Screen!
If you are a movie lover, most of you must be familiar with the name Yorgos Lanthimos. The director of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is known for incorporating the elements of an unsettling and distinctive sense of story into his films. Most of Yorgos’ movies are a mix of different elements such as drama, comedy, psychology, tragedy, and horror.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer also follows the same concepts as his previous movie The Lobster (2015). Without focusing on a specific genre, the characters in this psychological thriller are seen interacting in an almost robotic way.
Explaining The Killing Of A Sacred Deer | How Steven’s One Mistake Costs His Family Their Life?
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer follows the story of Steven Murphy (a heart surgeon), who is supposedly cursed by the son (Martin) of one of his deceased patients. Before Steven can decide what to do with Martin, the young boy begins infiltrating the surgeon’s personal life and family. Right from the start, it is made clear that the story will not end well for anyone. The events begin to escalate from the mid when Martin tells Steven there is a way to balance his father’s death. Steven must pick one of his family members to die to seek the balance.
It’s not like Steven is left with any other options at this point. If he fails, his wife and two children will suffer different stages of illness like bleeding eyes and paralysis. As the movie progresses, Steven’s desperation skyrockets when he sees his kids suffering. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer slowly leads to a point where Steven and his wife ultimately start debating the question of their children’s death.
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The Ending Of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer Is More Twisted Than The Knots in Rapunzel’s Tangled Hair!
Throughout the entirety of the movie, Steven’s family keeps pretending that everything is fine, whereas the truth is that their world is beginning to collapse. Nothing is fine, especially the fact that Steven continuously refuses to take any responsibility for the death of Martin’s father. A patient dying during surgery may not be a new thing. It could have also been an accident, but here’s the twist. On the day of the surgery, Martin drank, which diffuses any possibility of accidental death.
The ending Of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer takes a gut-wrenching turn when Steven blindfolds himself and takes a rifle. To avoid making a choice, Steven spins around with a rifle and starts firing aimlessly, leading to his son Bob’s death. Though Steven does not kill his son intentionally, the incident puts the surgeon in a shock for a long time. After all, he was a father, and killing his blood was the last thing he would have expected from himself.
The end credits of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer witness the Murphy family seated at a diner. The location is kept a secret, but it seems that Martin is still after them. The young boy keeps staring at the family from afar, which eventually leads them to get up and leave. Before leaving, each family member takes a final look at Martin and thinks about the sacrifice made.
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Final Words
Adapted from the Greek myth of the daughter of Agamemnon (Iphigenia), The Killing Of a Sacred Deer shows a young boy trying to make everything right. Even though his actions were wrong, he did it all in the rage of his father’s death.
