So, you just watched The Killing of a Sacred Deer. And you probably just stared at the credits for a solid five minutes, mouth agape, mind spinning in different variations of “WTF”. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, and we don’t blame you.
Yorgos Lanthimos is an incredibly complex director. He manages to artfully weave intricate stories that are as breathtaking as they are multifaceted. The Killing of a Sacred Deer, in our personal opinion, is a cut above the rest.
Now, we don’t have time to unpack all of that movie — because there’s sure as hell a lot to unpack there. But, we can give you one tidbit of information that might help tie some loose threads together: the myth of Iphigenia.
Iphigenia is more than just a name we can’t even begin to pronounce. She’s the protagonist of a Greek myth that is crucial to understanding this movie.
How the story goes, Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon — the fabled general of the Trojan War. While Agamemnon prepared the Greek fleet to set sail for Troy, he accidentally killed a deer in a grove sacred to the goddess Artemis. Infuriated, Artemis harnessed the winds to delay Agamemnon’s forces to set sail. Artemis proclaimed that the only thing that would appease her anger would be a blood sacrifice. So, long story short, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, to atone for the killing of the sacred deer.
At this point, you might’ve remembered the single reference to Iphigenia, buried within the dense dialogue of the film. The puzzle pieces might start to have come together in your head. On the other hand, you might be even more confused than before. Don’t worry, we’ll break it down for you.
The parallels between the skeleton of the plot and the Greek myth are extensive. The central conflict of the film is the death of Martin’s father at Steven’s hands. Martin blames Steven for his death and orders Steven to sacrifice one of his loved ones to even the score. The threat hangs over Steven through the course of the film, especially as time dwindles for Steven to make his choice. To force his hand, Martin has somehow cursed Steven and his family. He said that if Steven doesn’t choose one to kill, his entire family will die in slow and painful ways — first by losing the ability to walk, then by an inability to eat, and lastly by bleeding from their eyes. And as Martin says, once they start to bleed, it’s almost too late.
Yorgos Lanthimos takes a few liberties with his interpretation of the myth of Iphigenia — particularly with that gruesome bleeding eye thing — but the core of the story remains. Sins must be atoned, and balance must be achieved. If the scale can’t right itself, it has to tip in one direction or the other, and you can’t guarantee the scales tipping in your favor.
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