Overview
A chilling exploration of morality and sacrifice unfolds as a family faces an unimaginable choice.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- unsettling
- austere
- deadpan
- late night viewing
- arthouse horror night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film’s technically immaculate craft, unnerving performances, deadpan artifice, and distinctive fusion of domestic thriller with mythic horror, while finding it deliberately opaque and punishing.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Martin’s punishment transforms a surgeon’s professional mistake into a ritualized demand for familial sacrifice.
The hospital, suburban home, and family conversations are presented with detached compositions and deliberately unnatural performances.
Steven’s past medical error imposes physical consequences on Anna, Kim, and Bob despite their innocence.
Characters discuss paralysis, illness, sex, and sacrifice in an oddly matter-of-fact register.
Films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and why
Dogtooth
shares austere surrealism, coercive family dynamics, deadpan dialogue, and unsettling moral absurdism
The Lobster
shares mythic punishment, emotionally estranged characters, bleak humor, and stylized social menace
Funny Games
shares suburban domestic dread, psychological cruelty, and a family confronting inexplicable violence
The Witch
shares folkloric horror, sacrificial morality, and an oppressive atmosphere built from family isolation
Movie Details
- Director
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Release Date
- 2017-10-20
- Runtime
- 121 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (4592)
Cast
- Colin Farrell
- Nicole Kidman
- Barry Keoghan
- Raffey Cassidy
- Sunny Suljic
- Bill Camp
- Alicia Silverstone
- Herb Caillouet
- Barry G. Bernson
- Denise Dal Vera
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Cinemax Apple TV channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Killing of a Sacred Deer about?
- A celebrated surgeon’s comfortable family life collapses into a merciless supernatural reckoning governed by guilt, sacrifice, and impossible choice.
- What is The Killing of a Sacred Deer like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Killing of a Sacred Deer as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Killing of a Sacred Deer violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Killing of a Sacred Deer as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
- Critics broadly praised the film’s technically immaculate craft, unnerving performances, deadpan artifice, and distinctive fusion of domestic thriller with mythic horror, while finding it deliberately opaque and punishing.
- Which films are like The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
- Films with a similar feel include Dogtooth, The Lobster, Funny Games, and The Witch.
- How long is The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer runs 121 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
- In United States, The Killing of a Sacred Deer streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Cinemax Apple TV channel.
