Tag: The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Oscar Predictions: Kinds of Kindness

The previous two features from Yorgos Lanthimos – 2018’s The Favourite and last year’s Poor Things – combined for 21 Oscar nominations. This includes two Actress victories for Olivia Colman in the former and Emma Stone in the latter. Mere months after Poor Things, Lanthimos’s follow-up Kinds of Kindness has premiered at Cannes prior to its June 21st stateside bow. The three hour anthology has Ms. Stone headlining alongside Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer.

Unlike his two Academy contending predecessors, Lanthimos reunites with writing partner Efthimis Filippou. They collaborated on the filmmaker’s earlier projects Dogtooth (2012), The Lobster (2016), and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017).

The Rotten Tomatoes score is 94%, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Several critics, while praising many aspects, are calling this an easier picture to admire than like. This will be a true test of the Academy’s affinity for its maker. Those last two projects yielded five acting nominations and the aforementioned two wins. Stone and Plemons in particular are generating plenty of kudos. I do question whether Searchlight hones in on any of the cast for recognition. Perhaps SAG will take notice. In my previous prediction posts, I singled out Hong Chau for Supporting Actress consideration. I doubt that happens now. The best bet could be a sole Screenplay nod.

I wouldn’t discount Kinds receiving the kindness of awards voters. That said, I believe it faces more of an uphill battle than Lanthimos’s recent things that the Academy favoured. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscars: The Case of Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It began with the ten BP contenders and now it alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the five other big races. Today we arrive at our second filmmaker in Best Director and that’s Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things. Let’s get to it!

Previous Directing Nominations:

The Favourite (2018)

The Case for Yorgos Lanthimos:

From his 2009 Greek psychological drama Dogtooth to the 2015 pitch black satire The Lobster and 2017 medical thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Lanthimos has emerged as one of the most acclaimed directors of the 21st century (with some comparisons to Kubrick). Absurdist costume period piece The Favourite was his awards breakout with 10 nods and an Actress victory for Olivia Colman. His follow-up absurdist costume period piece Poor Things did that one better with 11 and it has its hardcore supporters. He’s picked up DGA, Critics Choice, and Globe mentions.

The Case Against Yorgos Lanthimos:

That all important DGA precursor went to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer and he also received the Globe and Critics Choice. It looks like it’s simply his year. Lanthimos was also snubbed for BAFTA.

The Verdict:

Actress for Emma Stone and Production Design are Oscar things his film could get. Not this category.

My Case Of posts will continue with Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall…

Oscars: The Case of Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin

As the sympathetic Dominic in The Banshees of Inisherin, Barry Keoghan is the next Case Of entry for the Supporting Actor contenders.

The Case for Barry Keoghan:

Following acclaimed performances including Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Keoghan get his first major awards exposure along with his three Banshees cast mates. Critics Choice, SAG, and Golden Globe nods followed with a surprising win at BAFTA. His lovestruck monologue to Kerry Condon is a ready made for your consideration Oscar clip.

The Case Against Barry Keoghan:

Ke Huy Quan from Everything Everywhere All at Once has a dandy clip or two himself and he won Critics Choice, SAG, and the Globe. Academy members may assume Keoghan has plenty more bites at the apple and he could split votes with costar Brendan Gleeson.

Previous Nominations:

None

The Verdict:

Despite the unexpected recognition from friends across the pond, Quan remains the heavy favorite for Supporting Actor.

My Case Of posts will continue with Steven Spielberg’s direction of The Fabelmans!

Write-ups for the other hopefuls in the race can be found here:

Oscars: The Case of Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin
Oscars: The Case of Brian Tyree Henry in Causeway
Oscars: The Case of Judd Hirsch in The Fabelmans
Oscars: The Case of Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once

Oscar Watch: The Favourite

As far as Oscar hopefuls go, the Venice Film Festival is now 3 for 3 as far as major releases becoming contenders. Today saw the screening of The Favourite, the 18th century set drama from director Yorgos Lanthimos. Early reviews are quite strong and it has now put itself into serious contention.

Lanthimos is known for his bizarre features including The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Neither received much love from awards voters, but The Favourite is said to be his most accessible pic to date. That could bode well for its inclusion in both Picture and Director.

As far as acting attention, any potential love will go to the women of its cast. Olivia Colman is likely to be campaigned for in lead Actress and her chances have significantly improved following the Venice debut. As for Rachel Weisz or Emma Stone in the Supporting field, that remains less clear (I’d give Weisz a bit of an edge if either makes it). I wouldn’t look for its actors like Nicholas Hoult or Joe Alwyn to be factors.

Additionally, The Favourite appears on a good course for an Original Screenplay nod. Tech nominations in Production Design, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Makeup & Hairstyling are also on the table.

Bottom line: The Favourite could be a favorite in several races for nominations. Expect this to vault up my chart in several categories in next week’s ranked predictions.

The Favourite opens stateside on November 23. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…

The Killing of a Sacred Deer Movie Review

I’m not an attorney, but I’ve heard of the legal term known as Clean Hands. I might have heard it first from Judge Judy. Regardless, in layman’s speak, it means a defendant claims that a plaintiff can’t argue for equal remedy because they’re engaged in bad acts as well. I realize a lawyer might challenge my interpretation, but I’m reviewing a movie and I’m not on trial. Clean Hands could have been a more appropriate name than what I’m writing about, but instead we have the more pretentious The Killing of a Sacred Deer from director Yorgos Lanthimos.

The aggrieved party in our story is teenager Martin (Barry Keoghan), whose father died three years ago in a surgery performed by Dr. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell, reuniting with his The Lobster director). The two befriend each other after the incident and Martin is eventually ingratiating himself with the doc’s family – wife Anna (Nicole Kidman), teen daughter Kim (Raffey Cassidy), and younger brother Bob (Sunny Suljic). Martin seems a bit strange and too eager to please, but his motives turn out far darker. He blames the doctor for his loss and plans to exact revenge.

Lanthimos isn’t interested with playing in the run of the mill revenge fantasy thriller genre. No family pet is harmed in the making of his screenplay with Efthymis Filippou, though there is one. Instead Martin wants to harm the family and any one of them will do. He also manages to capture the heart of Kim while he moves forward with his acts.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a dark and unsettling experience that sometimes struggles to earn the pain we go through watching it. From a technical standpoint, it’s often expertly rendered with a Kubrick like sense of clinical precision and a loud and evocative score. Farrell and Kidman (just seen together in The Beguiled) are just fine as the parents facing increasingly difficult circumstances and choices, but it’s Keoghan who electrifies plenty of his scenes. His misguided Martin gets under everyone’s skin, including ours.

That said, the style of Deer is frequently more potent than its subject and I struggled with whether it was worth it in the end. For all its bells and whistles, it kind of is a typical revenge fantasy with art house touches. Dr. Murphy may have made his mistakes, but there’s a Clean Hands defense when he discovers Martin’s bad acts. For this viewer, I offer a mixed defense of the picture itself.

**1/2 (out of four)