The Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, best known for 2014’s satirical comedy The Lobster, is fast emerging as one of the most exciting filmmakers out there. Following that film’s sleeper success, we couldn’t be more intrigued to see what’s he’s got up his sleeve for the future. Well, it seems like there’s a Lanthimos bounty on the horizon, as he has teamed-up again with Colin Farrell (star of The Lobster) for The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Even the ominously violent title nurtures our growing anticipation.
So what do we know so far? The film, supposedly inspired by a Euripides tragedy, and will be a psychological thriller with a touch of the supernatural. It follows a charismatic surgeon (Farrell) who takes a young teenager (Barry Keoghan) under his wing. He is then forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice once his life begins falling apart and the behaviour of this young protégé turns sinister.
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Shot in Cincinnati over the summer of 2016, the film will also star Nicole Kidman as the wife of Farrel’s character, and Clueless actress, Alicia Silverstone, as the teenager’s mother. Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, and Bill Camp will also feature along with a clutch of local Cincinnati medical professionals – Lanthimos having wanted the most realistic background as possible.
But what about the tone of the film? In an interview with Business Insider, Farrell revealed much more about what to expect saying, “I can say it’s –ugh, God – it’s eerier than The Lobster… Yeah, I don’t know, it felt pretty bleak to me. I mean, when I read the script it was extraordinary and to work with Yorgos again was amazing.” Ok, so it is even ‘eerier’ than The Lobster, a film that includes a numerous suicide attempts, a silent disco in a forrest and a dog beaten to death.
Farrell further praised the director saying that, “Yorgos is so specifically minded, he’s so clinical in his direction of the film… I’ll wait to see what the film is, but it’s set in a contemporary world, in America, there are hospitals and diners, parks, things that we will recognise and have experienced ourselves, but yet there’s this similar kind of uneasiness through all the interactions and all the things that take place. It was unnerving reading the script. I kind of felt nauseous after reading it.”
Let’s hope we feel that way after watching it. It’s currently in post-production and we are waiting on the trailer for more of an insight into this intriguing film which is set hit screens next year. As with The Lobster, this could well be revealed to the world at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017.
But wait, there’s more… Also on the boil is The Favourite, with a script written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Lanthimos will direct this feature centred on the last Monarch of the house of Stuarts, Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1707. Though she is yet to have a significant biopic to her name, Olivia Colman, a British actress quietly taking the world by storm, has been ordained to play the lead.
Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are also on board, portraying the Queen’s favourites, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Masham respectively. Being a little further down the road than The Killing of a Sacred Deer, even less is known about this one. But what we do know is that Masham came from humble beginnings, then rose up in the Queen’s household to usurp Churchill in Anne’s affections. (It is even rumoured that Masham and the Queen had an affair.)
Kate Winslet has already dropped out of the role before Rachel Weisz re-joined Lanthimos again and took over. There may be some more reshuffling yet. But nonetheless, power struggles, high stakes, and Lanthimos at the helm – it is safe to say that this is very high on our list of must-sees.
