History YMMV / TheKillingOfASacredDeer

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Martin appears 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.

* TheWoobie: Poor poor Bob. He is probably the most sympathetic character in the movie. He is the youngest, suffers the longest from the curse, is the one who is clearly the most scared when Steven decides to choose who dies by a sort of roulette, and [[spoiler:is ultimately the one who is killed.]]

* TheScrappy: Kim due to her being in love with the creepy Martin [[spoiler:and even more so as the film continues when she tells her younger brother about how she will go live with Martin and wants his [=MP3=] player after he dies. She is just too unsympathetic and creepy like her boyfriend so many audience members were hoping she would die instead of her brother.]]

** The mother, who comes off as a BitchInSheepsClothing. [[spoiler: She drops her MamaBear facade when Steven isn't around and handles her daughter roughly. As well, after seemingly caring about the health and safety of her children the entire movie, she coldly tells Steven to consider sacrificing one of them because they could always have another. She also never once offers to sacrifice herself to save their children, making her attempts to appease Martin by kissing his feet in a worshipping manner, cleaning up his wounds, and eventually letting him go come off as though it was in her own self-interest]].

* GeniusBonus: Film/{{Dogtooth}} and Film/TheLobster had titles with a straightforward relation to the plot; this title, while coming off as [[WordSaladTitle random]], is actually a reference to Euripides’s ''Iphigenia at Aulis'', where the reason for Iphigenia's sacrifice at the hands of her father Agamemnon was that the latter killed a sacred deer that belonged to Artemis and was forced to kill his own child as recompense.

* NightmareFuel: Typical of Lanthimos. A CreepyChild forcing a SadisticChoice on you and there's absolutely no way to stop him from killing you and your family? Sheesh.

* OneSceneWonder: Alicia Silverstone as Martin's mother.

* Trope/{{Narm}}: Kim screaming "[[spoiler:Dad, Bob's dying!]]"

** There's also the nature of the spell Martin puts on the family: it happens in stages, with the first two being lower body paralysis and refusal of food. The second is particularly creepy, because there's no reason ''why'' that should be happening physiologically; even when Kim tries to eat a single bite, she's unable to and coughs it up immediately. Were it not for their IVs, the children might have starved to death with piles of food right in front of them.

* OneSceneWonder: Alicia Silverstone as Martin's mother.

* Trope/{{Narm}}: Kim screaming "[[spoiler: Dad, Bob's dying!]]"

* Narm: Kim screaming "[[spoiler: Dad, Bob's dying!]]"

* FridgeHorror: Martin's father died ten years prior to the events of the film, but he's only just now choosing to go after Steven. Why did he wait so long? Well, Bob himself looks to be about ten. Martin deliberately delayed his plan until Steven had two fully-developed children with strong ties to him just to make the choice even ''more'' difficult.

* LoveItOrHateIt: While Lanthimos's works are already divisive, ''Sacred Deer'' has been his most LoveItOrHateIt; when it premiered at Cannes, its conclusion divided the audience between hostile boos and a standing ovation.

** There's also the nature of the spell Martin puts on the family: it happens in stages, with the first two being lower body paralysis and refusal of food. The second is particularly creepy, because there's no reason ''why'' that should be happening physiologically; even when Kim tries to eat a single bite, she's unable to and coughs it up immediately. Were it not for their IVs, the children might have starved to death with piles of food right in front of them.

* NightmareFuel: Typical of Lanthimos. A CreepyChild forcing a SadisticChoice on you and there's absolutely no way to stop him from killing you and your family? Sheesh.