The Killing of a Sacred Deer Trailer Analysis

• A relatively short trailer - only 78 seconds, the average trailer being 120-150 seconds, but is very successful at selling what is actually a really weird film.
• It opens with the production company, A24, reinforcing their brand to potential customers.
• We also hear the start of the musical track for the trailer - a young girl singing, a capella. This is heard over what is actually a reasonably innocent looking few shots of what looks like a young couple in a park - plenty of wide, bright, colourful, and open shots - however this soundtrack makes you think perhaps there is something else going on.
• After the park the singing continues, but we cut to a birds-eye view of an escalator in a very sterile, hospital-esque building, at the bottom of which a young boy collapses. We also hear a synchronous crash which emphasises this moment.
• We then get an intertitle telling us that the film is from the same director as The Lobster - this attempts to bring in a ready-made audience for the film, as those who liked the lobster may also like this.
• The trailer is made up of almost entirely low shots, adding a very sinister angle to the film.
• There are a series of these intertitles, all in the same visual style, building coherence in the film's branding. Most of the other intertitles are reviews.
• The dialogue is very morbid, consisting of discussions about surgeons killing patients and 'how did his father die?' One particularly poignant moment is when Colin Farrell says 'it's nothing serious' but the young man sat opposite him tells him it is - how could this young man know? It adds a very sinister tone to the rest of the trailer.
• The trailer ends with a series of dark, low-key shots, hinting at the film's tragic ending. The title of the film is then shown in the same style as the intertitles.