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SACRIFICE MOVIE REVIEW
A year after its premiere at TIFF, and a brief theatrical release in Italy, co-writer/director Romain Gavras’ film Sacrifice has found a home on Netflix. It tells the story of Mike Tyler (Chris Evans) a washed up movie star who had a nervous breakdown and (literally) torched his own career. A year later, the insecure and narcissistic Mike is ready to resuscitate his career by guest speaking at an exclusive charity event where rich and famous celebrities can virtue signal their concern for the environment. Meanwhile, the event’s tech billionaire host Ben (Vincent Cassel) can reputation-wash his latest mining operation while his pop star wife Gloria (Salma Hayek) can promote her new album about global warming. Mike doesn’t endear himself to the crowd when he calls out their hypocrisy and posts his speech on social media. Unfortunately, Mike’s attempts to rebrand himself are interrupted when the party is crashed by apocalyptic cult leader Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her heavily armed acolytes. According to Joan’s deranged belief system, the eruption of a nearby volcano will bring about the end of the world, and the only way to stop it is to throw some of the hostages, including Mike, into the volcano. Will this former action hero be able to save the hostages and become a real-life hero? Or will he make the ultimate leap of faith? More importantly, will this put him back on the A-list? Our reviewers Chris Ayres, Jena, and Marco have gathered in the Oneofus doomsday bunker to discuss this latest eat-the-rich, eco-disaster satire, and whether it ended with a bang, or a whimper.
DIRECTED BY: Romain Gavras
STARRING: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, Ambika Mod, Sam Richardson, John Malkovich, Charli XCX, Yung Lean, Jade Croot, Miriam Silverman, Jeremy O. Harris
YOUR REVIEWERS
Marco Noyola (Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad, Audio Editor)
By day, Marco is a mild-mannered office worker, but by night he is a mild-mannered movie watcher. He does other mild-mannered stuff too.
“I’m not a film critic. I just play one on the Internet.”
Christopher Ayres (Screener Squad)
Born and raised in the suburbs of Hinsdale, Illinois, Chris Ayres would constantly watch movies as a child, and that obsession has only grown over time, even attending Columbia Film School in Chicago during his last couple years of college. Whenever he’s not working his exhausting day job, he’s either watching as many movies as he can squeeze into his free time (preferably movies he’s never seen before due to a never-ending desire to expand his knowledge of the art form), or trying to turn people on to movies they haven’t seen that he thinks are worth their attention. You can find him on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Letterboxd (look for AyresForce or AyresForceOne)
Jena Perry (Screener Squad)
Jena Perry. Aka Luna. Aka Dion. Aka Memori. Aka Dog whisperer. Aka whiskey connoisseur. As you can see, depending on when you met this Oakland, California native, you have experienced a completely different person, each time. After finally deciding on a 13+year career choice as a Videographer and Radio Personality, Jena balances her time between pursuing her Doctorate in Philosophy, providing insightful and funny critiques on films and Television, raising her daughter and dog in Ohio, and constantly fighting off the existential dread that is being a dope black woman in America in the 20th century.
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