First Killing of a Sacred Deer trailer is deliciously messed up

If you thought Yorgos Lanthimos’ dystopian romance The Lobster was as delightfully off-the-rails as contemporary cinema could get, allow the first trailer for The Killing of a Sacred Deer to exceed your expectations.

Set to a grim a cappella rendition of Ellie Goulding’s 2013 hit “Burn,” the film’s new teaser promises sinister action and plenty of unsettling imagery, thanks in particular to striking camerawork by cinematographer Thimios Bakatuakis.

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The film follows a prominent surgeon (Colin Farrell) who forms a mysterious bond with a young man (Dunkirk‘s Barry Keoghan), which soon turns tragic as the boy seemingly curses his new acquaintance’s family with what appears to be paralysis, as various characters are seen crawling on their hands and knees, collapsing, and contorting their bodies into grotesque positions throughout the minute-long preview.

“I don’t understand why I should have to pay the price, why my children should have to pay the price,” Nicole Kidman, playing Farrell’s wife, says. Keoghan responds: “It’s the only thing I can think of that’s close to justice.”

The Killing of a Sacred Deer premiered in competition earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where critics praised the film as “Sophie’s Choice as a suburban horror movie” before the jury awarded Lanthimos its Best Screenplay award; he shared that award with You Were Never Really Here writer-director Lynne Ramsay.

Lanthimos’ latest is set for theatrical release on Oct. 27 via A24. Watch the film’s first trailer above.