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The Killing of a Sacred Deer poster

Movies that feel likeThe Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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.

If you loved The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the closest films we have are Forgotten (2017), The Body (2012) and Cold in July (2014). All three share The Killing of a Sacred Deer's tense and relentless feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Rojo (2018).

🍅 79% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Yorgos Lanthimoscontemplativetensetwistyrelentless
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Shudder

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If The Killing of a Sacred Deer hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Killing (1956)

Forgotten poster
Forgotten
2017 · dir. Chang Hang-jun
★ 7.4thriller · mystery · crimeNetflix

One thread runs through both: revenge

The difference: Lighter on stillness

Jin-seok, 21-year-old, moves into a new house with his family. He suffers from a slight schizophrenia but he carries an ordinary life under the warm care of the family. His older brother Yu-seok is a decent college student, a mentor, and role model for Jin-seok. One night, his beloved brother is kidnapped by unidentified assailants before Jin-seok's eye. Jin-seok can’t recognize their faces, but can remember only the VIN that matches with no car. After long silence of 19 days, suddenly Yu-seok returns home, but remembers nothing which had happened in the meantime. And soon Jin-seok feels Yu-seok is a total stranger.

The Body poster
The Body
2012 · dir. Oriol Paulo
★ 7.6thriller · mysteryPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: revenge

The difference: Less contemplative, more its own thing

A woman’s body disappears mysteriously from the morgue without a trace. Police inspector Jaime Peña investigates the strange occurrence with the help of Álex Ulloa, the widower of the missing woman.

Cold in July poster
Cold in July
2014 · dir. Jim Mickle
🍅 84%★ 6.7drama · thriller

Contemplative and tense in the same breath

While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Lady Vengeance poster
Lady Vengeance
2005 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 76%★ 7.5drama · thrillerRent or buy

Both lean on relentlessness more than on drama

Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.

Rojo poster
Rojo
2018 · dir. Benjamín Naishtat
🍅 96%★ 6.3drama · mystery · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of twists, in both cases

A small town in an Argentinian province, 1975. The life of Claudio, a successful lawyer, gets complicated when he has a stupid quarrel with a stranger in a crowded restaurant.

Dogman poster
Dogman
2018 · dir. Matteo Garrone
🍅 84%★ 7.2crime · drama · thriller

Contemplative mystery in both cases

The difference: Played as crime first

Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.

Nocturnal Animals poster
Nocturnal Animals
2016 · dir. Tom Ford
🍅 74%★ 7.4drama · thriller

Common ground: hostage

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

Searching poster
Searching
2018 · dir. Aneesh Chaganty
🍅 92%★ 7.6drama · mystery · thriller

Drama built on tension, twice over

After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North poster
Kingdom: Ashin of the North
2021 · dir. Kim Seong-hun
★ 6.9drama · fantasy · thrillerNetflix

Relentless thriller, and it commits to that

Tragedy, betrayal and a mysterious discovery fuel a woman's vengeance for the loss of her tribe and family.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2011 · dir. Tomas Alfredson
🍅 84%★ 7drama · thriller · mystery

Mystery with a pulse of twists, in both cases

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

The Salesman poster
The Salesman
2016 · dir. Asghar Farhadi
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · thrillerPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life.

The Square poster
The Square
2008 · dir. Nash Edgerton
🍅 86%★ 6.7crime · drama · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Ray, a construction worker trapped in an unhappy marriage, pursues an affair with his neighbor, Carla. Carla's husband, Greg, is a mobster who keeps large sums of drug money in their home. With this in mind, Carla comes up with a plan: She and Ray will steal Greg's money, burn down her house, convince Greg the money was lost in the fire and then run away together. Carla's scheme, however, doesn't go off as planned.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Killing of a Sacred Deer’s defining feeling.