--- title: "The Killing of a Sacred Deer: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer" critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 33 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 33 reviews: 22 positive, 6 mixed, 5 negative. ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Rating 5/5. 2 November 2017. The review calls it the weirdest, most mesmerically unsettling film of the year, highlighting its discombobulating opening shot and the cast’s sadistic finesse in playing with audience expectations. It notes the film’s effect lingers even on a second viewing. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/killing-sacred-deer-review-weirdest-mesmerically-unsettling/) ## RogerEbert.com — Brian Tallerico Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2017. Lanthimos crafts a mesmerizing thriller that traps viewers in an impossible moral dilemma with no good answers. The critic singles out the uniformly great performances and Lanthimos’ stunning visual compositions for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-2017) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2017. Festival review. The film is a masterfully realized hypnotic tale of guilt and retribution inspired by Greek tragedy. It features riveting performances, especially from Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan, along with impressive rigor of craft and startling originality. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/killing-a-sacred-deer-review-cannes-2017-1006199/) ## Empire — Andrew Lowry Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2017. This is another piece of proof for the theory that Farrell is quietly one of our finest actors when stretched by the right director. More than anything, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is an unforgettably unnerving experience. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/killing-sacred-deer-review/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 December 2017. This tale of revenge orchestrated by teen Martin against Dr Murphy’s family is one of the year’s best vengeance tales. Nicole Kidman’s turn is a sneakily subtle tour de force. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-film-review-a-shocking-story-of-revenge-a3683736.html) ## Little White Lies — Trevor Johnston Rating 4/4/4. 1 November 2017. Lanthimos delivers a confident psycho-thriller that overlays mythology on everyday circumstances to imbue every moment with inexplicable doom. The sheer all-of-a-piece execution, from pacing and composition to performances and use of music, holds the viewer in its steely grip. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/) ## Radio Times — Damon Wise Rating 4/5. Lanthimos creates a chilling US-set modern fable about a surgeon whose friendship with a teenage boy exposes him to a murderous vendetta, with tension escalating in an off-kilter hypnotic mood. Farrell is soulful while Keoghan is the face to watch as he peels off the mask of sanity toward a deranged finale. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-95y3s2/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/) ## The i Paper — Matthew Turner Rating ★★★★. 1 November 2017. Colin Farrell re-teams with The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos for this deeply disturbing horror drama with a blackly comic edge. The absurdity of the situation gives the film the feel of a surreal, jet black comedy. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/killing-of-a-sacred-deer-funny-terrifying-101153) ## The Guardian — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2017. The critic finds deadpan humour meeting full-blooded horror in Lanthimos’s unsettling drama about a surgeon’s friendship with a teenage boy. The film is praised for its clash between ancient myth and modern setting, though reactions may vary between amusement and alarm. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/05/killing-of-sacred-deer-review-yorgos-lanthimos-colin-farrell-nicole-kidman) ## Total Film — Philip Kemp Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2017. Lanthimos’s latest film pushes the boundaries of bizarre yet further. Disturbing and often distressing, but compulsively watchable. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review/) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2017. Festival review. This may be Lanthimos’ most scattered and sedate film, but it's his scariest as well. It comes to America and delivers genuine scares through its psychological revenge thriller elements. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review-yorgos-lanthimos-colin-farrell-nicole-kidman-cannes-2017-1201829951/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2017. Festival review. A ruthlessly controlled drama that achieves its powerful effect by holding back when its dramatic content is most intense, with an inventive attempt to map the stakes of classical tragedy onto skewed modern realism. Kidman’s highly ambivalent performance is one of her best in ages, though the rigorously controlled suspense means the drama stays within a narrow dynamic range. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-cannes-review/5118329.article) ## The Independent — Geoffrey Macnab Rating ★★★★☆. 2 November 2017. Yorgos Lanthimos’s surrealistic revenge tragedy is all the more chilling because of its absurdist and macabre humour. Colin Farrell gives a finely judged character performance as a softly spoken family man whose world is coming crumbling down. [Read the review](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-reviews-round-up-the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-thelma-ferrari-race-to-immortality-7852-a8033106.html) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Rating Critic's Pick. 22 May 2017. Festival review. Lanthimos reveals profound tragedy in a perverse horror scenario about justice and consequences through masterful orchestration. The critic singles out the Kubrickian allegory and the cast’s ability to convey subtext for praise. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review-1202439468/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 October 2017. Festival review. The artful thriller turns out to be a full-throated horror movie, flexing genuine scares in a Lynchian route toward dread. It builds a uniquely chilling portrait of a family melting due to the sins of the father. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/cannes-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-is-a-chilling-horror-film.html) ## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2017. The review describes the film as barmy, surreal and deadpan-droll, dense with non sequitur and Absurdism, though it becomes nastier then sillier as it goes on, never quite going the distance like prior Lanthimos works. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/38393cfe-bf05-11e7-9836-b25f8adaa111) ## The Times — Tom Shone Rating ★★★. 5 November 2017. The critic sees it as a ruthless allegory that hits the spot for some but notes it fails the babysitter test, preferring more tempting films over its paralysed children and bourgeois shock treatment. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/film-review-yorgos-lanthimos-the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-hitchcock-78-52-j3ln7hwk8) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 3/5. 23 May 2017. Lanthimos peels back the layers of this horror-inflected tale of classical tragedy with pristine storytelling and gliding precision, with Farrell and Kidman adapting impeccably to the heightened style. The dominant mood is dread and its cruelty is tough to bear. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer) ## Film Comment — Michael Sragow Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2017. The critic finds the film hollow and pretentious, with no genuine psychology or thrills despite its thriller premise and mythic allusions. He singles out the stilted dialogue, frigid style, and reduction of characters to mannequins or torture toys for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/deep-focus-killing-sacred-deer/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 19 October 2017. Lanthimos turns a domestic-medical nightmare into a feverish exercise in style with technical precision and menace. The critic singles out the self-satisfied provocation and secondhand shocks as ultimately feeling closer to monotony than myth. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-killing-sacred-deer-review-20171019-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 November 2017. Lanthimos has transformed himself into an international provocateur confidently working on a quasi-operatic scale with severe, grandiose style and precise direction of the acting. Barry Keoghan is altogether unnerving as Martin, but the film disappoints by not revealing further depths upon rewatch. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-killing-sacred-deer-replays-greek-tragedy-modernist-guignol) ## Slant Magazine — Greg Cwik Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 October 2017. Lanthimos doubles down on stylistic tics in a film that regresses into an homage to itself, with hollowness becoming obvious. The emotional vacancy and weirdness for its own sake undermine the skills, resulting in a meaningless pontification. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2017. Lanthimos delivers a brutally rigorous tragic allegory that treads close to monotony and sorrowful sadism. The critic singles out the programmatic plot and deadpan tone for complaint while noting the classical inspiration from Greek myth. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-and-the-square) ## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang Rating A. 22 May 2017. Festival review. The film is ice-blooded and brilliant, a pure and dangerous work with masterful performances, especially from Keoghan, that explores cosmic justice, suburban alienation, and human selfishness in a divisive, caustic manner. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/yorgos-lanthimos-killing-sacred-deer-colin-farrell-nicole-kidman-20170522/) ## Collider — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-. 19 October 2017. Festival review. The critic calls it a riveting and disturbing drama that may leave viewers reeling, a gorgeously rendered gut punch with no happy ending. They single out the lingering emotional devastation and haunting imagery over mere repulsion. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review/) ## Eye for Film — Richard Mowe Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 2017. Festival review. Lanthimos confirms his status as an original and unsettling director through dark humour and psychological rigour rooted in Greek tragedy, with standout restrained performances from Farrell, Kidman, and Keoghan in this story of vengeance and moral choice. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-2017-film-review-by-richard-mowe) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Rating 4/5. 23 May 2017. Festival review. The critic praises the film's unique approach blending thriller and absurdist drama, stunning visuals, and strong performances from Farrell and Keoghan, predicting it will help Lanthimos reach a wider audience. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review/) ## The Ringer — K. Austin Collins Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 October 2017. The critic sees it as another wryly funny, absurdist tragedy that imposes rigid conditions and moral chaos from the outset, with an air of grim mystery and inevitable tragedy. They single out the distinctive style—long tracking shots, affectless dialogue, and the way it turns the premise into a metaphor for justice and desire. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/18/movies/killing-of-a-sacred-deer-film-review-colin-farrell-yorgos-lanthimos) ## The Skinny — Joseph Walsh Rating 4/5. 2 November 2017. The critic describes it as a wild and dark Greek tragedy delivering high-tension, eerie and unsettling cinema in a twistedly enjoyable way. He singles out Barry Keoghan’s controlled performance and the beautifully shot, domineering atmosphere for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer) ## The Wrap — Steve Pond Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 October 2017. Festival review. The critic finds the film a disturbing, cold virtuoso provocation of severity and control that makes no concessions to taste. They single out its polished, Kubrickian precision and the way it grounds Lanthimos's signature absurdity in our world as points of interest. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/killing-sacred-deer-cannes-review-nicole-kidman-colin-farrell-get-dark-freaky/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 6/10. 13 September 2017. Festival review. The film is finely crafted with stunning visuals and strong performances, particularly Keoghan's creepy yet humorous Martin, but ultimately descends into excessive bleakness and cruelty without sufficient purpose. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/553289/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer-review/) ## NME — Olly Richards Rating 3/5. 3 November 2017. The critic calls it a chilling and nightmarish sort-of horror film that holds together but is easy to love and hate. He singles out the deliberately detached performances and lack of explanation for the curse as making it simultaneously uninvolving and riveting. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/killing-sacred-deer-film-review-2155811) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 7.5. 17 October 2017. The film is endlessly watchable but only intermittently arresting, held together by strong craftsmanship even if the ideas feel less complex than in Lanthimos's best work. The critic singles out the pristine visuals and sonics as its most ambitious elements. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/yorgos-lanthimos/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer.md