THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017) Explained

[Music] howdy folks welcome to foundflix on today's explain video we're looking at the winner of our last viewer's choice poll the killing of a sacred deer from filmmaker yorgos lanthamos where a charismatic surgeon is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart when the behavior of a teenage boy taken under his wing turns sinister but first you know the drill you gotta vote on our next viewer's choice video two very different sides of science fiction your first choice is danny boyle sunshine where a team of international astronauts are sent on a dangerous mission to reignite the dying sun with a nuclear fission bomb in 2057 and your second choice is predestination starring ethan hawk as a top temporal agent who must pursue the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time for his final assignment make sure to vote on which one you'd like to see me cover by leaving a comment down below or placing a vote in the poll over in the community tab if you're not familiar with your ghost the writer director of sacred here he is a filmmaker with a very peculiar and unique approach to what he makes an easy comparison would be to someone like stanley kubrick your ghost too creates a very distinct vision in his films like his breakout movie dogtooth or his earlier collaboration with colin farrell the lobster they're always just really weird in their own odd little way creating their own hyper worlds in a sense and sacred deer is no different the cinematography is slick and disconnected feeling like something is always foreboding and uncomfortable and the way the story plays out is definitely not standard making sense as to why after this one the viewer is left scratching their head at what it all meant also especially bizarre is the way pretty much every character speaks in the movie with a rushed monotone where they're constantly babbling in this kind of back and forth but usually they're also not really talking about anything of importance watering the house plants and new wristwatches that kind of stuff i think that's the whole point these lost souls constantly talking but not really meaning it kind of playing their parts in life which of course turns dangerous and tragic with the introduction of the mysterious martin interrupting steven's supposedly perfect and happy family life it's worth noting that yorgos is greek and essentially sacred deer feels like his take on a classic greek tragedy which is loosely based on a real story from a couple thousand years ago so there's a lot to explore with this one and we'll get to everything in due time so let's check out the killing of a sacred deer breaking down the story and its deeper themes at play as well as explaining the ending and just what is the whole deal with martin anyway a company with some nice extremely dramatic orchestral music successful surgeon steven is finishing up an operation he talks with his friend matthew about his new watch which sounds pretty dope water resistant to 200 meters and everything while steven on the other hand is thinking of changing his up having had the same one for the last 9 years and it is still good as new later sitting at a diner he's joined by a curious young man martin he grabbed some food first turning down stephen's offer to pay and they have a nice awkward conversation about things like the boy getting a haircut and how he saves his fries for last because they're his favorite and i'm already like yeah something is off about this dude taking a walk martin apologizes for being late for like the 10th time in the past 5 minutes stephen continuing to assure him it's no big deal he does seem to care about the kid or at least kind of treats him as a parental figure like when saying he was riding his friend's motorcycle steven's concerned if they wore helmets or not and he has a present for him a watch just like the one his pal at work has which is pretty generous then it's time for a lovely family dinner with a nice house and kids and success and everything there's still this undercurrent of malaise to everything kind of blankly going through the motions asking how their day went ana mentioning doing some renovations at our office or steven correcting his boy bob's posture and is also alarmed by his lengthy hair wanting him to get it cut immediately this ends on a weird note too anna's saying that she actually likes his hair daughter kim jealous says well what about hers anna concluding that every one of them has got good hair okay then things are just as peculiar in the bedroom hannah role-playing she's been administered general anesthetic lying in a limp position over the side of the bed for steven to conquer her again all of this is weird and a bit off but not like abusive or toxic or anything just a little weird and well a pretty uneventful regular ass family life that is starting to get its style cramped by martin appearing the next day at the hospital stephen chides him for not calling first martin innocently sang that he just wanted to thank him and wanted to show off his new strap for the watch apologizing again and sulks off wishing him goodbye steven falls right into his guilt trip stopping him and asking to see the strap calling it very nice but is adamant that he call first next time for his own good matt strolls up with some test results noticing that they have the same watch and steven introduces the boy in a lie calling him a classmate of his daughters who is interested in medicine later steven supervises his daughter's singing scales him proudly applauding when she's done noting that she's really improved in the last three months asking if she's talked to the director about getting moved closer to the front of the group he asked bob about his chore of watering the plants as they agreed on him doing that while kim walks the dogs he says he'd prefer to walk the dogs steven's scoffing about him being out late at night and it doesn't matter anyway because as anna enters she informs them that she's already watered the plants at some kind of a doctor's convention steven gives a rousing speech on the development of heart surgery technology and afterwards is offered a drink which anna turns down for him saying he hasn't drank in three years due to medical reasons and she's ready to leave reminding him of having surgery in the morning matt asks about how the kids are doing offering their good and that kim started menstruating last week oh that is good news definitely the kind of thing to bring up in public why not her singing or something nope she's menstruating that's super proud of her before they go anna too orders matt to finish his drink and go home as he has to be at the hospital in six hours yeah geez thanks mom trying to control everybody over here huh back at the pier with martin stephen asks if he has any friends he admits to not having many but remembering what his dad used to say it's better to have quality rather than lots and also considers his mom to be his friend saying they have gotten even closer since his dad died oddly steven has the idea of inviting him over to his house for dinner to meet his wife and children which he of course agrees to even bringing presents like flowers for anna and key chains for the kids kim in particular looking already smitten wither tacky music note one the kids hang out by themselves talking about choir and young bob is curious about martin's body here he asks if it's okay to smoke bob immediately says no but kim interjacks to just go to the window she's already growing a little crush martin asks her to sing something but obviously embarrassed she says not right now he shows off his arm hair but bob isn't that impressed touting his dad has like three times the amount of body hair kim lustfully complimenting his body dang girl try to keep it together her feelings become only more certain as the two go for a walk and she literally lets her hair down and decides him to sing a matune after all a pop song by ellie goulding they all sit down to gather in the living room martin is given some lemonade and offers that his mom makes the best lemonade around anna coyly suggesting they could have a lemonade contest lemonade sorry said that more times in one sentence than i have in my entire life lemonade they're asked about where they went and martin describes how he finds their neighborhood quiet and clean and beautiful a stark contrast to his own home he says that night even martin made a good impression on anna calling him a charming boy and suggests inviting him to come back steven's certain that he will she asks about his father stephen saying that he was killed in a car crash and was an old patient of his she's a bit confused asking if he went to the funeral he did well then why didn't she she asks him remembering that she must have been busy or something oh no the lies stephen the lies are starting to come in he gets a call thinking it might be from the hospital but of course it's martin wanting to thank him for a wonderful time and wants to return the favor inviting him to dinner at his house steven kind of brushes it off like yeah one day sure we'll totally do that martin asserting tomorrow night it is as he already told his mom obviously weirding steven out already like oh boy what have i gotten myself into here him essentially roped into having dinner at his place martin wants to watch a movie together but steven is worried about getting home and hadn't told anna that he'd be out late his mom offers that they could just put it on and if he gets tired they can finish it the next time he comes over yikes next time yeah we'll see about that martin pleads that it's his favorite movie and his father's as well well no choice after that i suppose the movie in question well groundhog day sure why not and specifically it's a scene where phil is at the diner and at that point in the loops believes himself to be some kind of god which weirdly actually has some connections thematically here martin randomly says he's tired and decides to go to bed exposing his true plan of trying to get stephen and his mom together which is really weird too them sitting in uncomfortable silence to finish the movie she asks if he's been married long 16 years he deadpans she compliments his hands calling them beautiful he's like really and she remembers his hands from visiting her ailing husband she asks if he remembers her him stammering of course her going on that she was heavier then and had darker hair asking if he prefers it this way things getting super awkward now he's all yeah it's nicer now she offers some dessert which he turns down and things get even weirder asking to see his hands and she starts kissing them and sucking on his fingers weave and i'm getting uncomfortable now steven immediately getting up to leave she writes it off as being okay martin's asleep and he wants this just as much as she does sternly saying that she won't let him leave without trying her tart sounds asexual and he quickly gets the hell out of there major yikes i'm sure steven would hope for some distance from martin after that incident but naturally he finds martin waiting for him in his office complaining of chest and heart pain he tells him there's no need to worry as he's too young but martin fires back he said the same thing about his father and he should have come out of surgery alive but well he died and he relents to do some tests on the boy he brings up what bob said about his body hair asking to see himself him glumly removing a shirt to show him and he's disappointed like that's not even that much body hair bro martin is hoping to entrench him further into his family bringing up that him and his mom wanted him to come over for dinner again being pretty relentless about it even when stephen says that he can't he's all oh you can't even get away for a few hours come on it's not going to be weird i promise he spills that his mom likes him and is attracted to him saying honestly that they're perfect for each other enticing him that she has a great body woof this kid is killing me and i'm sure steven feels the same at this point him calling the idea ludicrous and reminds him that he's happily married and loves his wife and kids additionally there's nothing wrong with martin according to the test and he's perfectly healthy obviously his real intention here was just to pimp his mom stephen later attempts to have a normal dinner with his family and matt but is drawn away by a voicemail from martin asking where he is saying he's called him a bunch of times moaning that he's been waiting for 30 minutes at the diner and has continued to infiltrate his life in other ways matt mentioning that he saw him at the hospital but pretended to not see him and even when kim comes home from choir practice says that she saw martin and he was actually the one that gave her a ride home her calling him funny and understandably perturbs stephen rings martin seeing him lingering outside of the house well that's what you get for letting him get too close to your life and this is kind of a huge tipping point as the relationship from here becomes much more dangerous the next morning steven is wondering where bob is ana casually saying that he likes to lay there for a while before getting up he's concerned that he'll be late for school and goes to get him moving but finds him sitting on the bed mumbling that he can't get up steven thinks that he's messing with him but afraid not he appears to be suddenly paralyzed in both of his legs he's rushed to the hospital and tests her down to test the feeling in his legs and he can feel the pin prick despite not being able to walk sometime later he emerges and is walking again steven's saying that he is totally fine and considers that maybe he just didn't study for a test or something yet as he and mom take the escalator down when reaching the bottom bob suddenly limpy collapses on his face sending him back in for more rigorous tests starting with the mri steven was so sure that he wouldn't need everything comes back clear turning their consideration that it's due to psychological stress anna's saying that's just how he is and asks about a potential pet scan steven is confident he doesn't need one and tomorrow he will walk all the way home he promises elsewhere kim is hanging with martin her new bow on his motorcycle and both not wearing helmets what are you doing stupid kids she comes home to anna smoking and watering the plants kim lies saying she was with another friend anna tells her that bob is fine and asking about her says she's tired or something but is absolutely fine seemingly their whole thing is being extremely adamant that everything is fine no matter what happens which is starting to look like less of a possibility bob still immobile the next morning and with a visitor already there martin as would be expected and has brought along some of his mom's famous lemonade asking for anna's opinion he whispers to stephen to meet him in the cafeteria but he's preoccupied he says demanding just 10 minutes warning not to stand him up this time they meet up and he has a present for him him feeling that it was rude that he hasn't given him one before and ruins the surprise blurting out that it's a swiss army knife he's upset steven hasn't been devoting as much time to him lately saying that he's sorry about bob steven again waves it away as nothing serious martin retorting it's like we talked about the time is now steven has no idea what he's on about annoyed that he's wasting his time and martin offers to explain their situation which is the core of our entire story just as steven was responsible for killing a member of his family now he must kill one of his own to balance things out if he doesn't decide they will all get sick and die listing off the stages of illness first they lose the ability to walk then they stop eating stage three they start bleeding from their eyes and soon after this a few hours later stage four is death and that's all he has to say in a rage stephen getting him kicked out of the hospital by security he returns to bob asking if he's eaten but the boy says that he's not hungry obviously concerned after what he just heard he tries to give him a doughnut saying him and anna give him permission to do so but he's not interested so steven tries to straight up shove a donut in his mouth causing him to choke and it pulls him back ordering him to eat them all in five minutes thinking that must be why he's run down he just needs to eat a nice healthy entire box of donuts that'll cure what ails you no doubt at home in oblivious kim is hanging out with martin and is interested in taking their relationship to the next step physically martin calls her the prettiest girl he's ever seen but says he has to go she tries to convince him to stay telling him that she loves him but he leaves without saying a word in return well that's not very nice time for more tests for bob but they can't figure out anything wrong with him leading back to it being psychosomatic instead stephen is annoyed with this easy answer but the truth is they have already exhausted all other possibilities physically he checks out as being 100 completely healthy concluding he just needs therapy the doctor thinking that this will help him walk again steven isn't about to get up trying to get him to walk but the boy falls limp whenever he sets him free so he tries a different tactic telling him a dark secret of his and hoping he will reciprocate and help him understand what's really going on but bob draws a blank and can't think of anything still convinced it's all an act he whispers that it's not anna returns later finding steven passed out at his desk and he admits she was maybe right about it being psychological anna warmly says that they're in this together and everything will be fine taking them to get some food and fresh air but their hopes are quickly dashed at choir practice in the middle of singing kim collapses on stage mirroring exactly what martin said would happen his family getting afflicted one by one until dying and confirms this when she refuses to eat either steven grovels to just take one bite for him she gives in on gratefully chewing and immediately wretches when trying to swallow it crying that she can't well dang now what to do he swarms over to martin's house banging on the door and demanding he open it or will smash the thing down screeching if anything happens to his family he'll die in prison but gets no answer having to leave without retribution later anna is trying to understand the reason this is all happening asking about martin's father and steven finally opens up that he had a stroke and he had been drinking that day only a little bit he says defensively and has been seeing martin the last six months at the diner he says he always had issues and acted weird but is now out of control thinking that they should go to the police but she shoots down this idea asking why he didn't tell her they'd been seeing each other he divulges at first he didn't see him that often and only recently has it been more regular admitting to feeling sorry for him and has been giving him money knowing his mom is out of work bob is more than ready to come home but they have to wait a few more days as kim gets a call from martin her asking if he's coming by and not hearing him chuckles you think that's possible and she manages to get to her feet and pretty easily takes a few steps to get to the window waving down at him in the parking lot mom joins her but martin has somehow disappeared meanwhile bob is jealous of her steps and tries himself to do so to no avail and mom lays down the law that she doesn't want her talking to martin anymore and after a heated exchange she snatches her phone away kim weirdly begs her to not get hysterical saying it's not that tragic and soon she won't be able to move either but she'll get used to it huh it's like due to her infatuation with martin she is somehow more aware than she's letting on here so anna pays a visit to martin herself in the middle of eating a big plate of spaghetti for breakfast breakfast of champions right there the subject turns to his mother saying that since steven killed his dad he's been flirting with her and that she has feelings for him too again mentioning steven's beautiful hands she asked why if he made a mistake or caused an accident does she or her children have to pay the price martin tells her about how people always said that he ate spaghetti just like his dad did but later learned that everyone eats their spaghetti that way to his disappointment expressing that he was maybe even more upset about this than his dad's actual death well that's pretty severe i didn't know spaghetti was such a bonding thing he admits he doesn't know what is happening is necessarily fair but is the only thing he can think of that is close to justice and wraps things up having to get to class chuckling to have a good day in a final desperate attempt to medically explain their condition stephen flew in a bunch of specialists but they too come to the conclusion that there's really no reason to keep the kids at the hospital and a feeling that they have done everything they can he agrees but he is worried as well as he doesn't want to feel like a loser unable to help them but anna suggests signing their release forms so they can at least go home while she continues digging deeper into what happened with martin's dad reaching out to matt he's a bit cagey at first about any details saying he doesn't remember the case but thanks to an exchange of a lifeless she gets the confirmation that stephen had indeed been drinking the morning of the operation basically making it certain that stephen is directly to blame for martin's dad's death the kids are back home set up with hospital beds and ivs while steven is still trying to pretend everything is fine unconvincingly saying the food is delicious and that she was right after all the kids are better here going so far as to suggesting a trip to the beach house certain that fresh air would be good for everyone anna turns to the subject of his hands and how everyone calls them beautiful but so what if they're beautiful if they're lifeless he asked what she wants him to do figure out how to end it as they're in this situation because of him she says he kind of flips out making fun of the whole thing rattling off a list of magical ingredients he needs to make a potion to cure them flailing around the kitchen throwing things everywhere and pretending to look for these items to an unamused anna going to bed he tries to defuse things saying there's no need to argue and make things worse and besides if martin was telling the truth wouldn't she be sick too for throwing it back in his face agreeing he's right they could just wait until they're all dead and figuring it out then definitely tired of his and not taking responsibility the next morning he has in a way but perhaps not in a way she expected asking her to follow him down to their basement seeing he has taken martin captive saying he's going to stay down here and tell the kids are better asking anna to fetch everyone some lemonade martin asked to be let go saying his mother is probably worried sick steven's scoffing sure you're a murderer he corrects him he's not a murderer and belabors the situation at hand that he doesn't have much time but suggests maybe it'll be better when it's all over and he can start with a clean slate confused at his lack of depth of judgment despite being a man of science a man of punches too it turns out stephen giving him a blow to the face martin retaliating by biting his arm he thinks he knows the only way to make him feel better biting his own arm gnawing off a pretty good piece of flesh asking if he understands his metaphorical and symbolic meaning which i'd wager is supposed to be the concept of flash for flesh which is kind of the whole thing going on here anna is busy cleaning a trunk full of martin's blood alarmed hearing a gunshot and comes to stephen training a rifle on the boy anna urges him not to shoot martin responding what if he does he'll not understand what happened that he killed him but four are dead goading that he better dig a nice big grave for the whole family steven is at his breaking point but somehow anna manages to calm him down while kim is still acting off since the walking at the hospital thing and somehow knows the whole sacrifice scenario at play here but why is the question i honestly doubt they had one of their classic loving family meals about the whole someone's gotta die thing though that would have been pretty funny to see so it was perhaps martin that told her what was going on but it seems more like her infatuation at this point has turned into a kind of brainwashing she says she's hopeful steve makes the right choice or otherwise if he kills martin that they will all die considering it tragic uh yeah i'd say that's pretty accurate she tells bob her plan is to move in with martin saying that dad doesn't really have a choice and it's bob that asks to die he's blindsided muttering that they bought him a piano that's supposed to be here next month so you know he wouldn't possibly kill him it's a piano and now she's smoking too further digging into her new demeanor it asked bob that since she lost her mp3 player again can she have his when he's dead which is pretty cold to say the least her repeating please over and over in a monotone that also sounds similar to martin's odd drawl please please please in a further escalation of the newfound sibling rivalry bob crawls his ass across the floor to get some scissors to cut his hair shorter as his dad got on his case about earlier he then goes to show his papa his new do calling himself a good boy steven responds to the display with a half-hearted good boy in agreement and really trying to do his best towards scurrying off to water the plants jesus is getting out of control his dad stops him as of course he's already watered the dang plants caressing the boy's hair and assuring him that he can do it tomorrow bob's not quite done yet saying he's been thinking about it and wants to become the same kind of doctor as steven good play kid i'd be doing whatever i could to here considering the situation stephen finds himself still unable to make the impossible decision and also continues to kind of eschew his responsibility for making his family suffer so he turns over to the kids principal prodding him with questions about their aptitude in order to tell which one is better in that sense this provides him no real solution because based on the principles assessment they are both skilled in different areas dang it this would have been so much easier if one of them was a dud here we also get a brief reference to the specific idea at the movie's core in passing the teacher mentions that kim wrote a killer essay on ephogenia a character from classic greek mythology the specific details of the story and how it plays out have become kind of muddled over the past 2500 years but the general idea is someone kills someone important to a family and in return he must sacrifice his daughter in most versions she actually survives in the end but the real connection here is one version where the troubling death is the killing of a family's sacred deer which still requires the daughter's sacrifice what we are seeing here is kind of playing that out with our ill-fated family due to martin's father's death he has enacted some kind of revenge curse in a sense where steven's family is forced to suffer until he pays back his do and flesh like in the basement earlier and it is at least worth mentioning that the kids attend a christian private school based on the crosses on the wall and the folder here but i don't think jesus is going to save you this time steven anna drags bob down to the basement and helps martin redress his bite wound asking bob if he's gonna come over and give him a hug like a total dick anna finishes up martin casually telling her if she's gonna do something she better do it fast as the boy is about to die the couple decide what to do and believe the most logical thing is to kill one of their children because they can just have another one who cares just get a new kid who wants the old one anyway and i'm bored of him sick of him kim pays a visit to martin again her having to crawl her ass all the way down there and he's pretty much just messing with her at this point she's all apologetic and says she was feeling selfish and frightened but shouldn't have been it's all a ploy to run off with martin in exchange for untying him she asks him to promise to fix her leg so that they can be together forever ultimately he's cold and non-responsive leaving her heart broken and attempts an ill-fated escape found by her parents early the next morning outside on the sidewalk and tells her parents to basically take her instead of bob but is as usual all weird about it telling them to remember they love her when she's lying in the cold cold ground soon after bob's eyes start bleeding which as we know is stage three meaning they're fast running out of time to make a decision or else they're all gonna die well except steven i guess the time has come to make a choice and steven does his best to make it an objective one even if still terrible the whole family is bound up in the living room with pillowcases on their heads and steven puts on a ski mask then blindly spinning around the room holding his rifle still trying to take as little responsibility as possible everyone is forced to listen to the patterning of his feet as he keeps rotating and lets off a shot whoops missed crashing into a lamp dang now i gotta get a new lamp too this is dude the next round of spins almost gets his wife but just misses the shot going over her shoulder well third time's a charm right this time he stops and gets bombed right in the chest oh well that's good right no it's not really good at all at least hopefully this terrible family nightmare can be over now besides bob didn't get his new haircut and never watered the plants little brat back in the diner the family has gathered together and looking like things are actually okay then martin rolls in seeing each other but keeps going to the counter everyone's shirking their eyes away kim and martin didn't lock eyes but she turns to her fries blasting them with more ketchup he continues intently staring as she gobbles one down hey that's not how you're supposed to eat them you're supposed to save them till last perhaps this is to illustrate that she is now free of her weird infatuation of him now the family gets up to leave and continue their staring contest and giving him a stink eye on the way out then one more look from kim as they exit into the blinding daylight leaving martin all alone in the darkness and while still staring creepily right so at the very least martin was responsible for some kind of curse in a sense that befell stephen as revenge for his father's accidental death there's a notable shift from where their kind of friendship starts developing into that uncomfortable date night scene at his house martin obviously wanted steven to take the place of his deceased dad and step into his place and their family as a result would be balanced as well as also in that sense taking responsibility for his role in ruining the boy's family the major shift occurs when stephen rejects this role it's here that things start turning dark for the family and to me it makes sense as this is rooted in greek tragedy that it was by appealing to some kind of dark god of some kind to make that deal to make steven pay for his mistake via having to choose one of his own family to die again balancing in a way the irreparable damage done to both parties in the end things have been balanced steven has paid his debt in flesh thusly letting the family finally be free of their curse which brings us to the end of this in-depth look at the killing of a sacred deer cuddle of your ghost what a weirdo what did you guys think should i maybe also cover the equally bizarre perhaps even more so the lobster and don't forget before we go you can send me a request for any movies or tv shows you'd like to see me explain by reaching out on any of my social media accounts at foundflix what did you guys think of the killing of a sacred deer and its ending let me know your thoughts down in the comments below don't forget to vote in the viewer's choice poll and make sure to like subscribe and follow thanks for watching found flicks see you next time

Channel: FoundFlix

Views: 1,223,734

Rating: 4.8773646 out of 5

Keywords: killing of a sacred deer, killing of a sacred deer ending explained, ending, explained, killing of a sacred deer explained, explanation, meaning, sacred deer meaning, trailer, clip, final scene, colin farrell, nicole kidman, greek mythology, yorgos lanthimos, sacred deer, based on, foundflix ending explained, foundflix

Id: NQfsloVeBqY

Length: 28min 53sec (1733 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 22 2020