Sacrifice hits Netflix on October 16.
Isn’t it nice when Netflix puts out a decent movie? Yes, the streaming juggernaut releases high quality efforts from auteurs like Scorsese and Del Toro, but then there’s the neverending parade of star-driven, empty calorie mediocrity; mostly paper thin comedy-action films with forgettable plots and vapid characters, whose only strengths come from the charisma of the actors playing them. At this point, Chris Evans is one of many likable actors who has made a few of these types of movies now, for multiple streamers, so it’s easy to assume Sacrifice will be another example. Yet lo and behold, this one actually feels like something with more commendable aspirations.
Evans plays movie star Mike Tyler here, attending a climate charity event on a Greek island while attempting a comeback after a public meltdown a year earlier. However, the event is interrupted by a cult-like group of radicals, led by Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy), who take everyone hostage at gunpoint.
And then… things actually go quite differently than you’d expect from a Netflix movie with this set-up and these stars. Because it’s incredibly easy to imagine the version of Sacrifice where Evans’ Mike must rise to the occasion, putting his movie star training into real world use… for halfhearted comedy-action hijinks.
But director and co-screenwriter Romain Gavras and his co-screenwriter, Will Arbery, have something more cerebral in mind. So while there are comedic moments to the film, especially early on, the story is actually focused on Mike as a man adrift – well aware of the performative nature of the rich, famous and powerful people he’s among – and what happens when he comes face to face with a group of genuine, albeit most certainly violent, activists.
Mike is one of three partygoers, along with billionaire Ben (Vincent Cassel) and performer Katie (Ambika Mod), to be chosen by Joan and her group for a supposed sacrifice in order to stop what they believe to be the imminent end of the world in just two days. This combination of a doomsday-prophet-on-a-mission story with an eat the rich hostage scenario ultimately feels somewhat like an enticing combination of this year’s Sam Rockwell-led Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die and another Anya Taylor-Joy movie, The Menu.
The journey that follows takes a lot of notable turns, as Mike begins to be drawn to the self-assured Joan and her absolute certainty in herself and what her mission is. And again, thankfully, Mike’s privileged movie star background isn’t used for just the jokey “get a load of this blowhard” approach it could be, but rather for something more introspective and thoughtful…
…Well, mostly. Because there are still some mannered, would-be pop-culture-skewing moments included, mostly via cutaways to some of the media attention the hostage story is getting or through Mike’s agent, Oliver (Sam Richardson). But as the story continues, these “wackier” scenes feel increasingly like a distracting, disconnected element that exists outside the central story.
Produced independently – Netflix picked it up following film festival screenings – Sacrifice has a strong visual approach thanks to music video veteran Gavras and cinematographer Matias Boucard. There are some great shots of the film’s island setting, nearby volcano included, and Gavras is among the directors who has realized that Taylor-Joy’s unique features, shot in a stark closeup (including straight to camera), make for a stirring cinematic image in their own right, particularly when the actress is playing a determined character such as Joan.
Sacrifice doesn’t quite accomplish all it’s setting out to do, and despite strong work from Evans and Taylor-Joy, the characters are more archetypes than richly detailed. But they work well for what they are and in their depiction of two very different people on this odd and unexpected journey together.
Those out of place, heightened comedy segments aside, the film is actually quite strange and melancholy in an inviting way, backed by an atmospheric score by Gener8ion and cool song choices like Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire” (meanwhile, Charli xcx pops up early on at the charity event, singing a tongue in cheek song about helping the environment).
Cassel has some strong moments as the arrogant Ben, while Yung Lean and Jade Croot both convey the right attitude as Joan’s likeminded siblings and partners. John Malkovich is a great casting get as Joan’s father (Malkovich and Taylor-Joy as father and daughter just seems right), though he feels underutilized. Salma Hayek Pinault has some fun moments early on as Ben’s wife, though the character feels somewhat forgotten about as the film progresses.