Cincinnati
is a very livable city, but it will probably never live down the shame from
giving the world Jerry Springer. In contrast, a prominent cardio surgeon will
be given the chance to repent for his sins through a wicked three-way Sophie’s
Choice. The situation is highly surreal, but emotions are scrupulously held in
check during Yorgos Lanthimos’ The
Killing of a Sacred Deer (trailer here), which
is now playing in New York.
Dr.
Steven Murphy has it all: a thriving practice, a lovely ophthalmologist wife, a
daughter he adores, and a son he is okay with. He is also giving back by
spending time mentoring Martin, a disadvantaged teenager—except there might be
something more sinister to their relationship. Nonetheless, he introduces
Martin to his family, all of whom find the moody lad inexplicably charming—especially
his daughter Kim.
Inevitably,
Martin starts taking liberties, even attempting to fix Murphy up with his
single mother. The doctor tardily tries to re-establish boundaries, but by this
time the resentful teen has gained a strange hold over the Murphy family,
especially Kim. Unfortunately for them all, Martin blames the Martin patriarch
for the death of his father—and not without some justification. More to the
point, Martin also seems to have some mystical unexplained power that will
force Steven Murphy to become an active accomplice in his own karmic retribution.
Within
Lanthimos’ maddening filmography, Sacred
Deer is a conspicuously frustrating film. If you were blown away by The Lobster, but detested his Greek
Freak films, like Dogtooth and Alps, you will find Sacred Deer sits uneasily between those two poles. Lanthimos
manages to wring high tragedy out of his fantastical premise, but getting there
is a bumpy ride. Problematically, it features the same extreme expressive
reserve that distinguished The Lobster,
but it was better suited to that dystopian universe and its absurdist rules
everyone accepted at face value. In contrast, Deer is essentially set in our world. It is just viewed from acute
angles.
As
a result, we have to sit through a lot of mumbling and shrugging, before
Lanthimos finally kicks it into gear. Yet, somehow the film mostly comes
together during the chilling climax—or maybe almost, but not quite. Either way,
it is a close call.
Colin
Farrell similarly feels like he is repeating himself from The Lobster, but while his prior sad sack character always seemed
to be screaming under his blandly nebbish exterior, Dr. Murphy really comes
across as a shallow jerk, who is quiet because he doesn’t have anything to say.
Likewise, Nicole Kidman seems to be recycling previous ice queen roles in films
like Eyes Wide Shut, Strangerland, and,
Heaven help us, Trespass. Frankly,
Barry Keoghan’s sullen mouth-breathing makes it hard to believe Doc Murphy
would ever bring Martin within one hundred yards of his family. At least,
Alicia Silverstone hits some poignant notes while playing against time as Martin’s
Mother—wow, Cher from Clueless playing
a widowed mom.