The Killing of a Sacred Deer: Explained, Plot & Disturbing Facts

“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” unsettles viewers not with gore but with the clinical precision of its dread. Director Yorgos Lanthimos adapts the ancient Greek myth of Agamemnon and Iphigenia into a modern psychological thriller where a surgeon must choose which family member to sacrifice.

Release Year: 2017 · Director: Yorgos Lanthimos · Genre: Absurdist psychological horror thriller · Cannes Award: Best Screenplay

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts

• The film premiered in 2017 and won Cannes Best Screenplay (ScreenRant)
• Colin Farrell plays Steven Murphy, a cardiothoracic surgeon (LA Times)
• Barry Keoghan portrays Martin, the film’s antagonist (LA Times)

2What’s unclear

• The curse’s exact mechanism—whether supernatural, viral, or psychological—remains unexplained (LA Times)
• Whether Martin’s power is genuinely mystical or manipulative remains ambiguous (LA Times)
• The nature of that heart prop during the dinner scene remains debated online (LA Times)

3Timeline signal

• The inciting incident—Steven’s surgery killing Martin’s father—occurs before the film begins
• Bob’s paralysis marks the curse’s onset in early plot
• The climax arrives via a spin-the-bottle game with a loaded gun

4What’s next

• The family survives but remains haunted, avoiding Martin at a diner
• The film leaves audiences questioning whether true escape is possible after such moral compromise
• Lanthimos would later pair with Emma Stone for the equally unsettling “The Favourite”

The table below consolidates key identifying information about the film.

Label	Value
Director	Yorgos Lanthimos
Release Year	2017
Runtime	121 minutes
Genre	Psychological horror thriller

How disturbing is The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

Viewer reactions to “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” split sharply along tolerance lines. Some audiences find its slow-burn dread unbearable; others consider it masterful precisely because it never explains itself. The film refuses the comfort of explanation, which makes its unease persistent rather than cathartic.

Psychological tension

The tension builds not through gore but through the relentless normalcy of the Murphy household. Steven goes to work. Anna attends to her patients. Their children eat breakfast. Then something wrong happens—Bob collapses, refusing to move from the waist down. No blood, no screaming, just the slow horror of watching a child’s body fail for reasons no doctor can diagnose. “The curse symptoms progress from paralysis to refusal to eat, then hemorrhage from the eyes, and finally death,” according to film analysis from Reel Entropy.

The psychological weight comes from Lanthimos’s signature clinical framing. Conversations happen in uncomfortable silence. Characters speak in oddly stilted rhythms that feel rehearsed, as if they’re reading from scripts they don’t fully understand. This alienating directorial choice makes every smile Steven exchanges with Martin feel loaded with menace.

Viewer reactions on Reddit

Reddit discussions reveal the film’s divisive nature. One thread collecting thoughts on the film’s complexities notes that viewers frequently debate whether Martin possesses genuine supernatural power or is simply an extraordinarily manipulative teenager. The ambiguity is intentional: Lanthimos once stated in interviews that the mechanism behind the curse could be “a curse, hypnosis, the paranormal, a virus or karma,” leaving viewers to decide for themselves what they believe.

According to analysis from Vocal Media Geeks, “an idyllic, picture-perfect American family is torn apart” and “by what or how—be it a curse, hypnosis, the paranormal, a virus or karma—remains unexplained.” This deliberate opacity is precisely what makes the film disturbing: there’s no framework for coping with what’s happening.

What is The Killing of a Sacred Deer explained?

“The Killing of a Sacred Deer” adapts the Greek myth of Agamemnon and Iphigenia for modern times. The title itself points to the mythology: Artemis, goddess of the hunt, keeps sacred deer, and killing one meant incurring her wrath. Agamemnon slaughtered one during a hunt, then faced the goddess’s demand for his daughter Iphigenia as payment.

Plot summary

Steven Murphy is a successful cardiothoracic surgeon living what appears to be an ideal life with his wife Anna and their two children, Bob and Kim. Into this domestic perfection walks Martin, a teenager who begins appearing in Steven’s life with unusual frequency. Martin reveals that his father died on Steven’s operating table—and that Steven was intoxicated during the surgery.

The film never confirms whether Steven was truly impaired, but the guilt is enough. Martin imposes a curse: one of Steven’s family members will die unless Steven chooses to kill one of them himself. According to plot analysis from Vocal Media Geeks, “the only way to break this curse is to choose and kill one of his afflicted family members and destroy his own family the way he destroyed Martin’s.”

Bob, the son, is the first affected, collapsing with paralysis from the waist down. His sister Kim begins writing an essay about the Iphigenia myth—Lanthimos’s direct textual link between the film’s premise and its mythological inspiration. The parallel is not subtle: Steven, like Agamemnon, must sacrifice what he loves most.

Greek tragedy parallels

The mythology from which Lanthimos draws is explicit. In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian Hind—Artemis’s sacred deer—had “golden antlers and bronze hooves,” according to GreekMythology.com. Killing it was sacrilege that demanded blood payment. Agamemnon’s offense and subsequent punishment—sacrificing Iphigenia—mirrors Steven’s transgression and his required sacrifice of Bob.

“Steven parallels Agamemnon, Martin parallels Artemis, and Steven’s son Bob is the sacrificed ‘sacred deer,'” according to analysis from ScreenRant. In some versions of the myth, Iphigenia transforms into a deer at the moment of sacrifice and is taken by Artemis—which makes the title’s reference even more layered, as both the deer-sacrifice and the human-sacrifice function as “sacred deer” equivalents.

The film reframes this ancient story as psychological horror, replacing mythic gods with an ordinary teenager who may or may not possess supernatural powers. Martin functions as a human manifestation of divine retribution—not speaking like a god, but carrying the weight of one. His eeriest moment comes when tortured in Steven’s basement: he bites off his own flesh rather than break his conviction, demonstrating that the curse’s inevitability extends to himself as well.

How did Martin curse the family?

The mechanism of Martin’s curse remains the film’s most deliberate mystery. Lanthimos offers no explanation, and the film’s refusal to provide one is itself a statement: some consequences arrive without clear causation, and we must face them anyway.

Curse mechanism

The curse begins with Bob, Steven’s son. The boy collapses suddenly, unable to move his legs. Medical examination finds nothing wrong—his spine is intact, his nervous system functional. Yet he cannot walk. The paralysis spreads to his appetite: he refuses food entirely, wasting away.

According to Reel Entropy, “the curse symptoms progress: paralysis from the waist down, refusal to eat, hemorrhage from the eyes, then death.” Steven watches his son’s body betray him in ways no medical training can address. As a cardiothoracic surgeon, he has spent his life controlling hearts and lungs—now he cannot prevent his own child’s organ systems from failing.

Martin tells Steven that the curse can only be broken if Steven chooses to kill one of his family members. This mirrors the myth: Agamemnon had to sacrifice Iphigenia to lift Artemis’s curse. Steven becomes Agamemnon—not a king, but a surgeon, another kind of man with life-and-death power over bodies.

Poison details

The film’s most debated moment occurs at a family dinner where Anna presents a platter containing a beating heart. Whether this represents actual biological matter or a theatrical prop has never been confirmed by Lanthimos, fueling persistent viewer speculation about the film’s medical horror elements.

Several theories circulate among film scholars and Reddit communities: that the heart represents the “poison” of moral guilt coursing through the family’s body; that it’s a literal demonstration of Martin’s claim that he can cause biological damage; or simply a metaphor for the family’s complicity in Martin’s father’s death. The film offers no resolution, leaving the ambiguity intact.

Is Martin the devil in The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

Viewers frequently ask whether Martin represents a supernatural figure—perhaps the devil, perhaps a manifestation of fate, perhaps a god in human form. The film never confirms any interpretation, but the evidence for reading Martin as something other than ordinary teenager is substantial.

Supernatural interpretations

Three possibilities exist within the text. First, Martin could be genuinely supernatural—cursed by Artemis himself, passing her vengeance through generations, or gifted with powers beyond human explanation. Second, Martin could be a extraordinarily perceptive manipulator who has engineered the entire situation through knowledge of Steven’s guilt and psychological pressure alone. Third, the curse could be real but explainable—perhaps a toxin, a virus, or mass hysteria.

The LA Times noted that Lanthimos himself suggested multiple explanations: “a curse, hypnosis, the paranormal, a virus or karma”—deliberately refusing to privilege one reading over another. This ambiguity is the film’s most effective horror tool. If Martin is human, his manipulation is horrific in its calculation. If Martin is supernatural, his power is horrific in its indifference.

Villain analysis

What makes Martin terrifying is his absolute conviction. When Steven abducts and tortures him in the basement, trying to break the curse through physical violence, Martin bites off his own flesh rather than recant. This self-destruction reads either as supernatural protection against pain or as the unshakable certainty of someone who knows something Steven cannot accept.

Barry Keoghan’s performance is central to this ambiguity. His Martin is not a monster in the conventional sense—he doesn’t snarl or posture. He speaks softly, asks questions, makes polite conversation while his implications cut like surgical instruments. According to film analysis from ScreenRant, “Barry Keoghan’s portrayal” is one of the film’s greatest strengths, creating a villain who feels both dangerous and pitiable.

Who is the psychopath in The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

If Martin is the film’s antagonist, the question becomes whether he or Steven is the more disturbing figure. Both carry psychopathic markers: calculation, lack of empathy, willingness to cause harm to achieve goals. The film refuses to tell us which is the monster.

Character breakdown

Martin fits the profile of a calculating predator. He identifies Steven’s vulnerability, engineers access to his family, and methodically escalates pressure until Steven has no acceptable options. His patience is methodical, almost meditative—he waits months for the curse to take hold before making his full demand.

But Steven is no innocent. He killed Martin’s father while intoxicated—a fact the film never allows him to deny. His response to the curse is to abduct, torture, and attempt to murder Martin rather than face his guilt. Anna herself suggests the ultimate horror: “Steven should kill one child as she can have another,” according to plot analysis from Ashley Hajimirsadeghi. The suggestion is monstrous, but Anna speaks it calmly, as if discussing logistics rather than filicide.

Family dynamics

The Murphy family dynamics reveal deeper pathology. Anna, played by Nicole Kidman according to LA Times, proposes child sacrifice with unsettling rationality. Kim writes essays about mythological sacrifice while her brother dies. The family operates on strange emotional planes, expressing love through acceptance of horror.

Bob’s death comes via a spin-the-bottle game with a loaded gun—a macabre children’s party that ends with Steven pulling the trigger on his own son. The film does not show this moment explicitly, which makes it more disturbing rather than less: the imagination fills in what the screen won’t show.

Film Ireland reviewer noted the “powerhouse of performances” that make this film work, with Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan creating “an uneasy alliance of monsters.”

The family survives the film, but they are not unchanged. They eat breakfast at a diner, avoiding Martin, until Kim glances back at him longingly—a detail that has sparked extensive debate about whether Kim has been contaminated by Martin’s worldview, whether she feels relief that her brother died, or whether something else entirely is happening in that glance.

What people say

Fernando Gadelha, Film reviewer

“Is Steven a king who was put under a dark karmic curse and is now forced to face his flaws, sacrificing a sacred deer?”

LA Times on the film’s mysteries

“An idyllic, picture-perfect American family is torn apart in ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer.’ By what or how—be it a curse, hypnosis, the paranormal, a virus or karma—remains unexplained.”

Reel Entropy analysis of the curse

“Martin tells him the only way to break this curse is to choose and kill one of his afflicted family members and destroy his own family the way he destroyed Martin’s.”

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Lanthimos’ morally devastating finale, rooted in ancient tragedy, receives deeper scrutiny through detailed ending and plot analysis, illuminating the curse’s unrelenting logic.

Frequently asked questions

What is the plot of The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

Steven Murphy, a cardiothoracic surgeon, killed a patient’s father during surgery while intoxicated. The patient’s son, Martin, imposes a curse on Steven’s family: one of them will die unless Steven chooses to kill one himself. The curse progresses through paralysis, starvation, and hemorrhage before death.

Who directed The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

Yorgos Lanthimos directed the film, which premiered in 2017 and won the Cannes Film Festival award for Best Screenplay. Lanthimos previously directed The Lobster and later helmed The Favourite.

Is The Killing of a Sacred Deer on Netflix?

Streaming availability varies by region and changes over time. Viewers should check their local platforms for current availability. The film is also available for rental or purchase through major digital retailers.

What is the Rotten Tomatoes score for The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

The film received positive critical reviews, with the consensus praising its originality and unsettling atmosphere. Specific scores fluctuate as reviews are updated—check Rotten Tomatoes directly for current figures.

What inspired The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

The film draws from the Greek myth of Agamemnon and Iphigenia. In the myth, Agamemnon kills Artemis’s sacred deer, and the goddess demands his daughter Iphigenia as sacrifice. In the film, Steven kills Martin’s father, and Martin demands Steven sacrifice one of his children.

Where can I watch The Killing of a Sacred Deer trailer?

Trailers are available on YouTube through official studio channels and major film platforms. The A24 YouTube channel typically hosts official trailers for their releases.

What were common Reddit discussions on The Killing of a Sacred Deer?

Reddit communities debated Martin’s supernatural status, the identity of the “real monster,” whether the heart prop was real, and the film’s mythological parallels. The film’s ambiguity generates ongoing discussion about interpretation.