Yorgos Lanthimos has crafted a sensational thriller brimming with unsettling humour and creeping dread, steeped in Greek tragedy, existential horror, Hitchcockian psychodrama, and riveting suspense. Darting confidently between genres to subvert our expectations at every turn, The Killing of a Sacred Deer firmly cements Lanthimos in the pantheon of world-class auteurs and marks him as a cinematic provocateur without precedent.
Dr. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon presiding over a spotless household with his ophthalmologist wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and their two exemplary children, 12-year-old Bob (Sunny Suljic ) and 14-year-old Kim (Raffey Cassidy). Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin (Barry Keoghan), a fatherless teen who Steven has covertly taken under his wing. As Martin begins insinuating himself into the family’s life in ever-more unsettling displays, the full scope of his intent becomes menacingly clear when he confronts Steven with a long forgotten transgression that will shatter the Murphy family’s domestic bliss.
The film was produced by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe’s Element Pictures, the producers of THE LOBSTER and Oscar-winner ROOM. It was financed by Film4 and the Irish Film Board, who also were financiers of THE LOBSTER, and New Sparta Films, whose involvement was brokered by HanWay Films. The project was developed by Element Pictures and Film4. HanWay Films are the worldwide sales agent.
