Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.
Yorgos Lanthimos delivers one of his most unsettling and distinctive films, blending Greek tragedy with suburban horror in a way that is utterly singular. The slow-burn dread, the affectless dialogue, and the cold mythological logic of the plot are executed with remarkable precision. Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman deliver characteristically mannered but hypnotic performances that serve the film's alienating aesthetic perfectly. Roger Deakins-level cinematography from Thimios Bakatakis — wide angles, sterile hospital corridors, and oppressive symmetry — creates a visual language unlike almost anything else in contemporary cinema. The film's novelty is nearly unmatched, fusing Haneke-style bourgeois horror with ancient curse mythology. The ending, while thematically consistent, is the one element that feels slightly mechanical rather than truly devastating — the random resolution diminishes the tragic weight it seems to be reaching for.