MovieChat Forums > The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) Discussion > What's the point of the strange way of s...

What's the point of the strange way of speaking in the film? (sp)


Just like in "The Lobster," the characters in this film don't seem to speak or behave in a "normal" way. They are all a bit "off" in subtle ways. One example would be the causal mentioning of the girl's first period in conversation. Another would be the clipped, brief manner of speaking to each other in terse dialogue. In "The Lobster" I just thought they were trying to be funny and it seemed to work. I'm not so sure what they are doing here.

I found myself detached from the characters because of this, not really caring that much about them. I even reflected while watching that if the characters were "normal people," the tragedy of the situation would be much more impacting. For me, the strange behaviour drained all the tension from the film.

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It was excruciatingly annoying. After about 45 minutes I turned the sound off and turned the captions on. At least then I was able to follow the story line without feeling like screaming. This could have been an excellent film except for that one serious flaw. Lanthimos obviously didn't trust two exceptional actors and a well-written script to convey some "deeper" mood he was trying to achieve. If anyone could pull off such bizarre restrictions it would be Farrell and Kidman, but their monumental efforts couldn't rescue this poorly directed film. If they had actually been allowed to act, this would have been one of the best films of 2017.

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Directors commonly leave their trademark/signature in their films; a style of filming, if you will.

Yorgos Lanthimos' trademark is having the characters in his films speak and act robotic.

The desired effect is making the universe his films are set in feel alien and unnerving to its viewers.

As if they were taking place in a world other than ours.

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Some people don't express emotions as much and are more WASP-ish types. They are more cold, aloof; not passionate like Latinos and Mediterraneans. A lot of families are like that.

I think when he mentioned his daughter menstruating to his friend it was mostly just idle chit chat. When he confessed to his son about masturbating his own father, that was to help him relate more and to reveal a dark enough secret so his son would confess he was just acting paralyzed. A father-son bonding about another father-son bonding.

They did have an enthusiastic conversation about watch technology and waterproof ratings or something. People have different things that they are enthusiastic about.

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I feel it was supposed to (and it did) create a surreal atmosphere.

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