The Killing of a Sacred Deer

"The surgically controlled madness of Yorgos Lanthimos’ method can be punishing. Over the last few years, the Greek auteur has rapidly established himself as a meticulous modulator of corrosively absurd scenarios. Squirmy and side-splitting in equal measure, his last film (The Lobster) imagined a dystopian future where single people unable to find soul mates are turned into animals. This singularly demented vision carries through to The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a film that isn’t as conceptually daring, but no less confrontational, perplexing and deliberate. If Kubrick ever wanted to skewer and roast suburban complacency via tragic Greek mythos and eye-for-an-eye stalker-revenge tropes, it’s possible that might’ve ended up something like this."

"Will somebody please whack me on the head with a bible, or a large book about Greek mythology? Paying a person to do this would probably be cheaper – and certainly more time efficient – than sitting through another heavy-handed, metaphor-clogged drama, populated by characters who are enfeebled because they exist purely in service of a Bigger Message."

"To see an unfettered nightmare like this from such an idiosyncratic director feels like a cruel treat, and a welcome stylistic stretch."

"As allegories of extreme discomfort go, this one is masterfully orchestrated."

"There's precious little warm blood pumping through this beautifully crafted but clinical film."

"As in all his best work, Lanthimos is brilliant at summoning up a whole created world and immersing us in it. But its weirdness has a double meaning: it has a stylised element of absurdism and it is also a plausible expression of denial."

"Bleakly brilliant."

"At once almost surgically precise and gleefully messy, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is certainly not a film you can easily forget – and nor should you wish to."

"This is a ruthlessly controlled drama that achieves its powerful effect by holding back when its dramatic content is most intense."

"This is not, in fact, a happy film. But it reinforces my sense that Lanthimos is one of the most original voices in today’s cinema."

"The drained personalities of the characters serve to relieve the film of all dramatic tension."

"The impressive rigour of its craft, the skillfully subdued intensity of the acting, and the startling originality of the story will make it unmissable for anyone who cares about bold filmmaking."