"The Killing Of A Sacred Deer," the Nicole Kidman-Colin Farrell thriller filmed here last summer, will premiere in the Cannes Film Festival competition lineup next month.
A limited release has been announced for Nov. 3, so the movie from director Yorgos Lanthimos ("The Lobster") will be eligible for Oscar consideration, Variety says.
Farrell plays a surgeon who forms a bond with a sinister teenage boy with disastrous results, Variety says. Indie Wire says "the story, which has been described as a 'psychological thriller with supernatural elements,' finds the actor playing a surgeon who takes a teenager under his wing and makes an 'unthinkable sacrifice' because of his behavior. This choice causes his world to unravel."
Kidman plays his wife. The cast includes Alicia Silverstone ("Clueless," "Batman & Robin"), Bill Camp ("Damages," "Midnight Special") and Barry Keoghan ("Stay," "Traders").
Farrell told Business Insider that reading the "Sacred Deer" script made him "nauseous." Farrell said:
“It felt pretty bleak to me. I mean, when I read the script it was extraordinary and to work with Yorgos again was amazing…There are so many interpretations that this film could be approached from. But Yorgos is so specifically minded, he's so clinical in his direction of the film. He's really a master I feel, I really do….
"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 recognize and 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."
The Los Angeles Times story about the Cannes competition lineup says that "perhaps most prominently for some film fans is a new Yorgos Lanthimos work. The director of the Cannes hits 'Dogtooth' and 'The Lobster' brings a new movie, 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer,' with a plot described as 'a surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy with disastrous results.' Like 'Lobster,' it's in English, has an animal theme and stars Colin Farrell."