Colin Farrell and Yorgos Lanthimos reunite on The Killing of a Sacred Deer

"An eye for an eye" is a saying that's been with us for a long time. You know what it means: if you hurt someone, it's only a matter of time before you get hurt. That idea of payback goes back to the oldest stories, from the Bible to the ancient Greek tragedies, but in a new film called The Killing of a Sacred Deer, it's given a fresh, and ultimately chilling, treatment. 

A heart surgeon, played by Colin Farrell, befriends a young man whose father he tried to help, but who died on the operating table. As the film unfolds, the young man's actions grow more and more sinister, leading to a life or death decision that the surgeon must make for his family. 

It comes from director Yorgos Lanthimos, who made the 2015 film The Lobster (also starring Farrell). As with that film, he tells much of this story not through dialogue, but through what is unsaid: glances between characters, music, looks of restraint and control. That posed a great creative challenge for both Lanthimos and Farrell. 

Today, Tom Power speaks to the film's director and star about their latest collaboration. 

— Produced by Elaine Chau