Romain Gavras, who set cinema ablaze with his ferocious, politically-charged thriller Athena, tries to do the same using satire with the deeply unfunny Sacrifice. A much starrier effort, boasting a cast led by Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, John Malkovich, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, and Charli XCX (for like, thirty seconds), the film’s roster of A-listers actually undercuts any attempt to poke fun at wealthy elites and vapid celebrities. But nothing undercuts it more than it being a comedic black hole, and a tonal nightmare so bad it had audiences fleeing our screening in droves.
The best part of Sacrifice is in the opening minutes, with Evans as clueless Hollywood actor Mike Tyler. Attempting a comeback after a ridiculous public meltdown involving a flamethrower, Mike is attending a gala inside of a mountain in Greece, to support climate change initiatives led by tech billionaire Bracken (Cassel). But Bracken doesn’t really give a shit. He just uses the words of environmentalism to cover his misdeeds, just as Mike tries to cover the bald spot on the back of his head. Evans can play an airhead better than most, and if Sacrifice were operating purely on a goofball level it’d be fine, but that’s not what’s happening.
The party, which includes Charli XCX as Mother Nature performing Cerrone’s “Supernature” (amazing in Gaspar Noe’s Climax), gets disrupted by Scandinavian eco-terrorists led by Taylor-Joy’s Joan. Joan is there to fulfill a prophecy that will save the world, which is set to die in two days. The only way to do it is to throw three specific kinds of people into an erupting volcano. Mike, an idiot who sees a shot back in the limelight, goes along with Joan’s plan, not realizing just how much danger he’s actually in.
As a satire of mindless celebrity culture, Sacrifice offers little that’s even remotely challenging. It doesn’t even work if the film were trying to make a statement about overzealous reactions to climate change. But I don’t think Gavras, who also co-wrote the script with Succession writer Will Arbery, is daring enough to do that. While Gavras’ keen eye and music video experience offer some nice visuals and crisp pacing, Sacrifice leaves you wondering where the biting commentary we expect from him has gone. Perhaps it threw itself into a volcano, never to be seen again.
