Screenplay Structure Analysis

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filipou · Psychological Horror/Thriller · 90 pages · 113 scenes · 3-act natural structure · linear organization

A renowned cardiac surgeon's life unravels when a mysterious teenage boy he's befriended exacts a supernatural revenge that forces him to make an impossible sacrifice.

Tone
Clinical, detached, unsettling, absurdist

Tension curve

Dramatic intensity across The Killing of a Sacred Deer from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.8, 3.1, 3.4, 3.2, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6, 4.3, 5.1, 6, 5.9, 5.5, 5.7, 5.7, 6, 6.4, 7.3, 8, 7.4, 6.6, 6, 6.3, 6.2, 5.8, 5.6, 6.1, 6.6, 6.4, 6.8, 7.4, 8.2, 7.4, 7.2, 7.2, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5.

Structure at a glance

Inciting incident
Page 5, 6% of the script: Steven waits at a Burger King where Martin, a teenage boy, arrives late and apologizes before going to get food, offering to buy Steven chicken wings.
Act 1 break
Page 28, 31% of the script: Bob's mysterious paralysis becomes undeniable and irreversible, launching the family into medical crisis and Steven into desperate investigation.
Midpoint
Page 46, 51% of the script: Martin gives Steven a Swiss army knife as a present in the hospital canteen, then Steven accuses Martin of killing his father and has security escort him out.
Act 2 break
Page 75, 83% of the script: Steven kidnaps and shoots Martin, attempting to break the curse through violence, but the situation escalates as Anna decides they must sacrifice one child.
Climax
Page 90, 100% of the script: Steven ties and gags all three family members positioned in a triangle around him, puts on a balaclava to blind himself, raises a rifle, spins, and fires one shot.
Peak tension
8.5 out of 10, reached about 100% of the way through; the script averages 5.7.
Average scene length
1.2 pages

Structural personality

This script operates as a slow-burn descent into nightmare logic. Act One (scenes 1-42) establishes Steven's controlled world through repetitive rituals—hospital routines, family dinners, secret meetings with Martin at Burger King—before the supernatural intrusion shatters everything. The pacing is deliberately methodical, almost clinical, mirroring Steven's profession. Act Two (scenes 43-86) is the longest section, chronicling the family's medical deterioration with documentary-like precision as both children lose mobility, refuse food, and begin bleeding from the eyes. The script refuses conventional escalation; instead, it accumulates dread through repetition and the characters' increasingly desperate attempts to rationalize the irrational. Act Three (scenes 87-113) compresses into a claustrophobic endgame where Steven must choose which child to kill, culminating in the chilling final scene at Burger King where the family sits in silence, waiting for Martin's judgment.

Pacing

The script maintains an unnervingly flat affect throughout its 113 scenes, averaging just over one page per scene. Early scenes (1-30) establish rhythm through parallel structure—hospital/home/Burger King meetings. The middle section (scenes 42-75) slows dramatically as the children's condition worsens, with multiple hospital scenes creating a sense of medical futility. The final act accelerates through shorter, more fragmented scenes (80-113), particularly the basement confrontations and the family's frantic search for Kim. The script's refusal to provide catharsis or explanation creates mounting tension despite the measured pacing.

Themes

Similar shapes

Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Scene summaries and structural markers are generated by AI analysis of the screenplay text and may contain minor inaccuracies. ScriptGraph analyzes structure and does not reproduce screenplay text.

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