Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek Pinault, John Malkovich, Ambika Mod, Charli xcx, and Jonatan “Yung Lean” Leandoer star in Romain Gavras’ satirical thriller “Sacrifice,” that premiered last year at Toronto International Film Festival.
A Parody of Environmentalism
Netflix dropped a trailer for “Sacrifice,” a movie with a goofy spirit and an eco-friendly mask. It features Evans as a movie star in crisis at a gala where a radical Taylor-Joy and her fellow doomsday supporters abduct three guests from the party to feed to the mountain’s volcano threatening to erupt. Yes, it looks incredibly silly, but perhaps it could be thought-provoking.
Critics Not Sold on ‘Sacrifice’
From what we can see, the film leans heavy on the whacky, eco-terrorist plot with a sprinkle of pretentious green capitalism. Evans is the attention grabber from the start, but Hayek Pinault and Malkovich stand out immediately chewing their scenes up. The movie looks like its laughing at its own jokes, which doesn’t seem very entertaining for the audience.
It turns out, currently sitting at 37% on the Tomatometer, that assessment isn’t that far off. Critics call it meandering without much to say on the topics it brings up, losing steam about halfway through the film. Perhaps that’s why Netflix sat on it for a year before deciding to stream it on October 16 for a wide release, rather than putting it in theaters. When a film is weird for the sake of being weird, attaching a bunch of talented, A-list stars isn’t going to cover up the flaws. There’s only about a month left and general audiences may be a lot more lenient on this than the critics were. The public loves them some Chris Evans; he might end up getting a pass here.
From Netflix: During a star-studded charity gala brimming with celebrities, billionaires and empty speeches, a movie star in the midst of an existential crisis (Chris Evans) is taken hostage by a radical warrior (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her devoted followers. As the night descends into chaos, both an inward journey and an outward adventure ensue, where the line between performance and belief, salvation and sacrifice, begins to blur.
Along with directing, Gavras co-wrote the script with Will Arbery (“Succession”) and he’s also a producer, along with Robert Walak, Jacob Perlin, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska and Giorgios Karnavas.
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