Is The Killing of a Sacred Deer Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 6 out of 10. It's a quiet story about a surgeon and a teenager who will not leave his family alone, with almost no jump scares.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
6 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
High
The feeling hangs around for a few days, mostly when you picture a hospital corridor.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: Watch it if you like quiet unease, but skip it if you can't take a story about children in danger.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer runs one hundred and twenty-one minutes. A heart surgeon in Cincinnati befriends a sixteen-year-old boy, and invites him home to meet the family, which is the first mistake in a long list.
The premise, briefly
A cardiothoracic surgeon in Cincinnati befriends a teenager whose father died a few years earlier, and the boy's presence in the family's life slowly turns into a problem.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Steven fires a rifle with his face covered, and Bob dies from the third shot. Later, Martin walks into the diner where he used to meet Steven, and the remaining Murphys leave without speaking to him.
The scene you're dreading
Near the end, Steven ties up Anna, Kim and Bob in a circle, covers everyone's heads and fires a rifle while spinning. The third shot hits Bob. It is the scene viewers dread most.
The dog
No dog dies in The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
It is a slow, quiet movie with almost no jump scares, and the dread comes from watching a family run out of choices.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A teenager with a lot of dinner invitations
Steven Murphy, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Cincinnati, meets a sixteen-year-old named Martin Lang at a diner after an operation. Martin's father died a few years earlier. Steven brings Martin home to meet his wife Anna and their children Kim and Bob, and Martin makes a good impression, particularly on Kim. Next, Steven goes to dinner at Martin's house. After Martin goes to bed, Martin's mother makes a pass at Steven, and when he turns her down she tells him that Martin wants them to have sex. Steven leaves angry. Martin then comes to Steven's office with chest pain, but the tests all come back normal. His demands for Steven's attention become more frequent, and Steven grows more concerned when he finds out that Martin gave Kim a ride on his motorcycle.
One morning Bob cannot move his legs, and Steven and Anna take him to the hospital, where doctors run many tests. Martin tells Steven that Steven's operation on his father ended with his father's death, and that Steven must kill one member of his family to even the score. Otherwise all four will die within a few days, starting with paralysis, then refusing food, then bleeding from the eyes. Steven has Martin thrown out of the hospital, and Bob stops eating. Kim, who is in love with Martin, faints during a school choir performance and then also stops eating. Both children are fitted with feeding tubes. Steven admits to Anna that he had been drinking before Martin's father's operation. Martin phones Kim and tells her to stand and walk, and she does, until he hangs up and she is paralyzed again.
A basement and a school principal
Kim and Bob go home from the hospital. Anna scolds Steven for being passive, so Steven ties Martin up in the basement, beats him and shoots him in the legs. Martin bites Steven's arm, then bites his own to show what he means by justice. Kim and Bob argue over which of them Steven will kill, and each tries to win his favor. Steven even asks the school principal which child is better, and the principal cannot say. Anna then takes the children to Martin, cleans his wounds and kisses his feet, but he is unmoved. She urges Steven to pick a child instead of her, since they could have another. Kim begs Martin to cure her so the two of them can escape together, and when that fails she tells her father she loves the family and offers herself. Anna finally lets Martin go.
Steven decides to leave it to chance
Bob starts bleeding from the eyes. Steven sits him, Kim and Anna in a circle with duct tape holding them in place and covers their heads. He covers his own face with a woolen hat, picks up a rifle and starts firing while he spins around. This is the scene people dread most, and it happens near the end. The first two shots narrowly miss Kim and Anna. The third one hits Bob, which is how the movie settles the choice Martin demanded.
The ending, explained
Some time later, Martin walks into the diner that he and Steven used to share. The rest of the Murphys are sitting there, and Anna, Kim and Steven get up and go. Anna and Kim glare at Martin on the way out, and Steven keeps his eyes away from him. Bob is the only member of the family who dies, and Kim and Anna are still alive.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Killing of a Sacred Deer scary?
Yes, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a 6 out of 10. It is a slow, quiet movie with almost no jump scares, and the dread comes from the family's situation and lasts a few days.
How does The Killing of a Sacred Deer end?
Steven fires a rifle with his face covered at a circle of his family, and the third shot kills Bob. Later, the three remaining Murphys leave a diner when Martin walks in.
Does the dog die in The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
No dog dies in The Killing of a Sacred Deer. A dead fish is shown with its head being removed.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
No. The Killing of a Sacred Deer has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Why is Martin after Steven in The Killing of a Sacred Deer?
Martin's father died on the operating table while Steven was operating on him, after Steven had been drinking. Martin believes the only fair outcome is for Steven to kill someone in his own family.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of The Killing of a Sacred Deer is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to watch one hundred and twenty-one minutes of polite dialogue to know how The Killing of a Sacred Deer goes. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror before you see it.
