History Film / TheKillingOfASacredDeer

* AmbiguousDisorder: Martin seems to be on the autism spectrum: he speaks in a flat, unchanging voice, occasionally repeats certain words, expresses how he's feeling with no emotion whatsoever, and is exceptionally socially awkward. And he manages to stick out for this in a movie where EVERYONE talks with a rather flat and emotionless affect.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's never clear how or even whether Martin is affecting the children. The doctors are unable to find anything wrong with them. Steven frequently accuses them of faking it. Martin tells Steven that everyone in his family will eventually suffer the same afflictions, but even as Bob supposedly approaches death, neither Steven nor Anna experience any of his promised symptoms.

* RiddleForTheAges: How Martin is able to torment the family is never explained.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Steven mentions that he masturbated a lot at Bob's age and was worried that he wasn't ejaculating a normal amount, so to check, he once went to his drunk, sleeping father and ''gave him a handjob to see how much he would ejaculate'' to compare. Yuck.

* IfYouDieICallYourStuff: Kim claims Bob's MP3 player in case he dies.

!!This film contains examples of

* BodyHorror: Martin's plans involve his victims' bodies slowly breaking down, with numbness in their limbs, an inability to eat and eventually blood from the eyes.

* BondageIsBad: The first indication we get that Steven is not the best guy is when he role plays "general anesthesia" with Anna, in which he had sex with her while she pretends that she is sedated.

* MisplacedRetribution: Anna point-blank asks Martin why she and her children, who are innocent, have to suffer for her husband's mistake. Martin acknowledges that the choice isn't fair, but claims it's the only thing he can think of that's close to justice.

* NeverTrustATitle: [[spoiler: The film's title refers to a specific tale in Greek mythology, in which Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia after killing a deer sacred to the goddess Artemis. This may lead more mythologically-savvy viewers to guess that Kim will be the one killed, but in the end, it's Bob who ends up being slain to break Martin's curse.]]

* RedHerring: For those who are familiar with Greek mythology. The title refers to the myth of Agamemnon having to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease an angered god. During the movie, Kim's principle mentions that Kim wrote an A+ essay on Iphigenia. All this seems to foreshadow that she will be the one that Steven sacrifices at the end. [[spoiler:She isn't. Poor Bob is the one who is ultimately killed, though he was chosen through random chance.]]

''The Killing of a Sacred Deer'' is a 2017 absurdist horror/pitch-black comedy directed by the Greek director Creator/YorgosLanthimos starring Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/NicoleKidman. It tells the story of a cardiologist who is psychologically tormented by a high school student with a personal grudge and mysterious powers.

* BitchInSheep'sClothing: Mathew is apparently Steven's best friend and coworker, but he tried to have an affair with Anna behind Steven's back, and later completely blames Steven for the death of Martin's father the exact same way Steven blamed him while selling that information to Anna for a handjob.

''The Killing of a Sacred Deer'' is a 2017 absurdist horror movie directed by the Greek director Creator/YorgosLanthimos starring Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/NicoleKidman. It tells the story of a cardiologist who is psychologically tormented by a high school student with a personal grudge and mysterious powers.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Martin seems to be on the autism spectrum: he speaks in a flat, unchanging voice, occasionally repeats certain words, expresses how he's feeling with no emotion whatsoever, and is exceptionally socially awkward.

* NeverMyFault: Steven claims that surgeons can never kill their patients, only an anesthesiologist can. Meanwhile, the anesthesiologist tells Anna the opposite.

* MisplacedRetribution: Anna point-blank asks Martin why she and her children, who are innocent, have to suffer for her husband's mistake.

* NeverMyFault: Steven claims that surgeons can never kill their patients, an anesthesiologist does. Meanwhile, the anesthesiologist tells Anna the opposite.

* SignatureStyle: Much like ''Film/TheLobster'', every character speaks in a precise and somewhat robotic fashion.

* TearsOfBlood: Martin informs Dr. Murphy that the third phase of the mysterious illness is that his family members will start bleeding from their eyes; death will follow a few hours later. Dr. Murphy is eventually forced to choose after Bob starts bleeding from his eyes.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: The mysterious and possibly supernatural illness that befalls the Murphy children has no basis in reality.

* TheAlcoholic: Dr. Murphy apparently had a drinking problem that led to him accidentally killing one of his patients, although he denies being at fault.
* BestServedCold: Martin doesn't go after Dr. Murphy until his father's been dead for ten years.
* BodyHorror: At one point, Martin brutally bites into Steven's arm and ''rips off a chunk of his flesh.'' Then, to go even further, he does the same to himself.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Dr. Murphy shoots Bob. Martin shows up at the same diner the rest of the family is eating at, and they all get up and leave. Martin watches them go. TheEnd.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Martin views Dr. Murphy as this for having killed his father by accident, and the plot involves him setting out to right this wrong. [[spoiler:And in the end, Martin himself faces no consequences for forcing Dr. Murphy to kill his own family member.]]

* NeverMyFault: Dr. Murphy claims that surgeons can never kill their patients, an anesthesiologist does. Meanwhile, the anesthesiologist tells Anna the opposite.
* NeverTrustATitle: [[spoiler: As GeniusBonus under YMMV describes, the film's title refers to a specific tale in Greek mythology, in which Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia after killing a deer sacred to the goddess Artemis. This may lead more mythologically-savvy viewers to guess that Kim will be the one killed, but in the end, it's Bob who ends up being slain to break Martin's curse.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Dr. Murphy realizes Martin is telling the truth when Bob refuses his favorite donut.

* SadisticChoice: Martin tells Dr. Murphy that he must choose one of his family members to die.
* SinsOfOurFathers: [[spoiler:Bob dies for Dr. Murphy's drunken mistake.]]
* TearsOfBlood: Martin informs Dr. Murphy that the third phase of the mysterious illness is that his family members will start bleeding from their eyes; death will follow a few hours later. Dr. Murphy is eventually forced to choose after Bob starts bleeding from his eyes.
* TheUnreveal: How Martin is able to torment the family is never explained.

* ParentalFavortism: Done terrifyingly once Kim and Bob return home. They have a lengthy conversation that, on the surface, might be any sibling argument over who is the favorite...except in this case, they're making cases about why Steven will choose the other for the sacrifice.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Dr. Murphy shoots Bob. Martin shows up at the same diner the rest of the family is eating at, and they all get up and leave. TheEnd.]]

* SadisticChoice: Martin tells Dr. Murphy that he must choose one of his family members to die.

''TheKillingOfASacredDeer'' is a 2017 absurdist horror movie directed by the Greek director Creator/YorgosLanthimos starring Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/NicoleKidman. It tells the story of a cardiologist who is psychologically tormented by a high school student with a personal grudge and mysterious powers.

''TheKillingOfASacredDeer'' is a 2017 absurdist horror movie directed by the Greek director Creator/YorgosLanthimos starring Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/NicoleKidman. It tells the story of a cardiologist who is psychologically tormented by a high school student with a personal grudge and mysterious powers.