As the title suggests, this is not a film filled with rainbows and smiles, and remains very much in the vein of Yorgos Lanthimos' previous films such as Dogtooth and Alps.

Having said this, The Killing of a Sacred Deer takes a turn down an even darker path than its most recent predecessor, The Lobster, which is almost a romcom in comparison, and jumps in to the horror genre all the way up to the waist.

His newest film, starring Colin Farrell in his second turn for the director, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan, who is deliciously ruthless as a disturbed young man who becomes a plague on the house of a doctor and his family.

Colin Farrell plays Steven Murphy, a well-to-do cardiologist who takes an interest in a teenage boy, Martin (Keoghan) after his father dies. Steven's wife, Anna (Kidman) is incredibly up-tight yet full of admiration for her husband, following him around at hospital dinners and allowing him to take her sexually in whichever way makes him most aroused, even is this may seem degrading to an outsider.

Suddenly the Murphy's two children, Bob and Kim, become mysteriously paralysed, leaving the family at their wits' end in trying to fix them, with only Martin providing an unimaginable solution.

As with all of Lanthimos' work, each character's idiosyncrasies bring light relief in the face of a horrifying reality - the deadpan delivery of Farrell's lines distance the audience from the terror he is facing, and long interludes discussing mundane topics such as how deep a watch can survive underwater provide these moments of genuine hilarity.

Even as the narrative progresses and Martin and Steven's relationship becomes strained, there is still time to discuss the type of strap Martin shall put on his new watch, and whether Steven is offended if he chooses a leather over a rubber strap, bringing levity in a moment of familial crisis.

The two children are also masterfully played by the young Raffey Cassidy and Sunny Suljic, who also remain delightfully deadpan and are able to deliver incredibly physical performances despite their lack of movement.

As Kim (Cassidy) and Martin become friendlier, she sings an Ellie Goulding song to him in almost full length, which is almost cringeworthy in its teenage awkwardness.

Alicia Silverstone's desperate single mother is also fantastically portrayed, if slightly underused.

The film is as dark a black comedy as could possibly be found, with echoes of Michael Haneke ringing through the sinister story, which must be kept under wraps to give it the truest shock factor.

I left the cinema feeling weighted down by the film's dark themes of grief, family, revenge and fatherhood, but still enlightened and enriched by the experience, from a filmmaker who is showing his enormous talent more and more in each of his films.