If your Netflix watching habits are anything like mine, the “My List” section of your account is clogged with way too many movies and shows. Like with my book collection, if I see a title on Netflix that looks interesting, I add it too the list. As a result, I had over 200 titles on “My List” a couple of years ago. Yikes. Being home more thanks to this isolation means that I’ve been able to power through a lot of shows and movies on the list. But usually I don’t watch quite this much tv. Sometimes, when Netflix removes shows/movies to make space for new ones, the odd item from my list will disappear before I have a chance to watch it.
However, since everyone began to quarantine and self-isolate, I’ve noticed that at least 2 of the movies that once disappeared from my list have now returned as “new” titles. I wonder if Netflix has been bringing back movies/shows that it had once removed because more people are staying at home and watching tv. And I wonder what other titles have been/will be brought back.
One of those returning titles is my Netflix Pick of the Week:
The Killing of a Sacred Deer directed by Yorgos Lanthimos – Drama, Horror, Thriller: A surgeon’s children become mysteriously ill after he befriends a strange teenage boy. He learns that his wife will eventually succumb to this illness and that each member of his family will die. In order to save his family, he is forced make an unthinkable sacrifice.
(Content Warning: If you decide to watch this movie, the opening scene features a very graphic surgery.)
Pros: It’s more of an art-film than a Hollywood-style thriller. The music is unique and eerie, and I found that the slower pacing heightened the tension in this thriller. The story was fascinating and uncomfortable all at once, and I kept wondering about what the outcome would be right up until the end.
Cons: I understand that this helped establish the tone and style of the movie, but the dialogue and acting could be a little awkward at times. Sometimes, the dialogue was so clunky that I found it was just too awkward, to the point where detracted from the more tense moments of the film.
Final Thoughts: This is one of those films where the “how” is not important. We never find out how this is all happening, but it doesn’t matter. What’s important in this film are the consequences of people’s actions, as well as the impact these events have on the relationships between the characters.
