Sometimes a movie is so baffling I seek help in understanding it. Such is the case with
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), which I watched last night courtesy of Netflix. The Murphy's are the epitome of a happy American family. The father is a successful heart surgeon, the mother also has a well-paying job. The older sister is a talented singer, her younger brother wants to be a surgeon. The doctor is befriended by a teenager on whom he operated, whose father died on the operating table a few years back. Was the doctor inebriated during that procedure? That is never confirmed. In fact, a lot of the narrative is left unexplained. Somehow, the teenager manages to get into in the psyches of the kids. Despite showing all signs of being healthy, they suffer leg paralysis. The teenager threatens to kill the entire family if retribution is not made. Clearly, the supernatural is at work, although the viewer will never know the how of it. Is there greater meaning than a simple tale of revenge? There are many clues throughout. Sexuality seems to be a key. The husband and wife role play, the daughter has just had her first period, the father relates a bizarre moment from his past, and he fights off an aggressive play from his tormentor's mother. I was unable to figure out the meaning of all that in relation to the story. Perhaps it is simply coloring. I googled the title and found interesting analysis at taylorholmes.com, who says: "It’s a story of debt, loss, payment and retribution... of Justice." He also suspects it is criticism of the USA: "America is continuing to unrepentantly pillage the world to keep its place at the top of the pyramid." That is not unreasonable analysis, although I believe the accusation is bunk. As for the title, it is based on Greek mythology. In the build up to the Trojan War, Agamemnon accidentally kills a deer in Artemis’ sacred grove. Artemis punishes him by stopping the winds to keep his fleet from sailing to Troy. A seer tells Agamemnon he must sacrifice his eldest daughter in order to appease the goddess. It's no surprise that the director of the film is Greek, Yorgo Lanthimos, who co-wrote the screenplay with a countryman, Efthymis Filippou. The scenario won the Palme D'or at Cannes. Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and, briefly, Alicia Silverstone, bring their considerable talents to the role of parents, but the kids steal the show: Barry Keoghan as the weirdo teen, and Raffey Cassidy and Sunny Sulsic as the doctor's children. The film runs two hours and is slow-paced, not for the impatient. One aspect I really enjoyed was the score, which is attributed to a team of five. It is eerie and entirely unmelodic at times. 59,000+ users at IMDb have rated
The Killing..., forging to a consensus of 7.1 on a scale of ten. Apparently, many understood it a lot better than I. I'm not comfortable rating such a work, so I won't, but I do admire artists who create such unusual fare, whether I agree with its themes or not. Those who want things spelled out should pass. It took in only $2+ million at the box office. I doubt it recouped its costs even after DVD sales and rentals and streaming. Still, it's good to see challenging work is still done occasionally. Here's a pic of the cast and the bearded director:
Best of luck to Harry and Meghan.
The floating book shop was rained out today. My thanks to whomever downloaded
Present and Past to Kindle.
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