Sadie Sink & Eric Bana Can’t Save Cult Thriller

Summary

• A Sacrifice
  features a cult conspiracy involving bizarre Berlin suicides, but fails to deliver a cohesive and believable narrative due to poor execution and rushed pacing.
• The film’s cult aspect is creepy, but lacks depth in exploring why characters like Mazzy and Martin fall under the leader’s spell.
• A Sacrifice
  sabotages itself with an early reveal, defanging its mystery element and leaving the audience waiting for the oblivious characters to catch up.

In A Sacrifice, a famed psychological profiler investigating bizarre Berlin suicides unwittingly involves his visiting teenage daughter in a cult’s sadistic conspiracy. A Sacrifice ticks every box on the twisted thriller checklist but fails to bring the pieces together in a cohesive and believable way. The film wastes a solid cast, decent performances, and an initially compelling narrative with poor execution. The pacing and editorial decisions add up to a rushed runtime that never lets any part of A Sacrifice take hold. There are also some head-scratching decisions made by characters who ostensibly should be much smarter and less naive.

Ben Monroe (Eric Bana) gags as he visits a disturbing crime scene. German law enforcement has invited the famed author to help investigate a series of baffling, ritualistic suicides. He’s writing a new book and jumped at the chance to escape an impending divorce back in the United States. Mazzy (Sadie Sink), his 16-year-old daughter, is due to arrive in Berlin later that day. Nina (Sylvia Hoeks), also a widely respected expert in cult activities, introduces herself. They both stare at the robed bodies lying beside each other on the floor with some kind shell in their mouths. She gently comforts him. There’s no embarrassment in feeling ill.

Mazzy repeatedly calls her father when she lands. He apologizes for not being able to pick her up. A furious Mazzy is forced to take a train. Max (Jonas Dassler) listens to his headphones while observing the confused American girl. He kindly offers to help her read the train map. Mazzy’s instantly taken by the cute German stranger. They exchange numbers when she leaves.

Oblivious Characters Circle a Creepy Cult

A Sacrifice (2024)

1.5/5

Inspired by Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel Tokyo Nobody, A Sacrifice follows American social psychologist Ben Monroe (Eric Bana) who is investigating a local Berlin cult connected to disturbing events. While he immerses himself in his work, his rebellious teenage daughter, Mazzy (Sadie Sink), becomes embroiled with a mysterious local boy who introduces her to the city’s underground party scene. As their two worlds head toward a dangerous intersection, Ben will need to race against the clock in order to save his daughter.

Release Date June 28, 2024

Director Jordan Scott

Cast Sylvia Hoeks , Sadie Sink , Eric Bana , Jonas Dassler , Stephan Kampwirth , Sophie Rois , Lara Feith , Alexander Schubert

Runtime 1h 34m

Writers Nicholas Hogg , Jordan Scott

Distributor(s) Vertical

Pros

• Sophie Rois is great and the cult elements are genuinely creepy.

Cons

• Characters behave in unrealistically naive and ignorant ways and are always two steps behind the audience.
• A Sacrifice gives up a big reveal early in the film and ruins its own mystery.
• Editing choices are befuddling, and the ending lands with a thud.

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Ben hugs his beloved daughter. She’s happy to see her father, but is upset that he’s once again put her on the back burner. His work always comes first. Mazzy’s ire is further aroused by Nina’s presence. The woman obviously has more than a professional interest in Ben. Mazzy’s elated when Max calls. Her father has no idea she’s talking to an older man. Max wants Mazzy to attend a climate change protest. She has to meet Hilma (Sophie Rois), the captivating leader of an activist group he’s recently joined.

A Sacrifice establishes Ben’s inability to process his personal problems. He doesn’t want to address Mazzy’s deep-seated hurt at her family’s collapse. Ben senses her disappointment as a confirmation of his weakness as a father. He’s never had the ability to be there for her. The cavernous gap between father and daughter enables her exploitation. Ben’s preoccupations, especially where the case and Nina’s concerned, allows a treacherous blindside. A disaster is clearly approaching, but Ben’s somehow utterly oblivious.

The film’s cult aspect is pretty creepy. Rois, a prominent Austrian actress known for the German series Barbarians and Terence Malick’s A Hidden Life, steals the show as a compelling, insidious figure in the vein of Jim Jones and Heaven’s Gate leader Marshall Applewhite’s piercing stare. Hilma’s apocalyptic predictions of Earth’s demise due to humanity’s greed, savagery, and industrialization triggers a sea of the disaffected to follow her like lemmings.

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Great Actors Play Dopey Characters with a Lack of Depth

A Sacrifice fails to seriously explore why youth like Mazzy and Martin would fall so easily under Hilma’s spell. They are not stupid children duped by mind games. Much like sex cult leaders Keith Raniere of NXVIM (Nexium) and Sarah Lawrence College’s Lawrence Ray, there’s a sinister art to Hilma’s seduction. The beginning lure of attraction stems from an honest effort to do good and find belonging. This commitment then leads to unwavering loyalty that transforms into complete submission. The film lacks depth in this regard and chooses to focus on kooky cult visuals. That’s needed, but there had to be more time spent on exposition.

Related: 10 Most Terrifying Movies About Cults on Netflix

Bana’s a tremendous actor. He’s proven his versatility. Ben’s dopey ignorance of what’s happening right in front of him just isn’t realistic. Writer/director Jordan Scott (Cracks), daughter of the iconic Ridley Scott, has him overplaying the fool. Ben’s lauded in his field. He knows cult methodology. The idea of him not recognizing that behavior in Mazzy is preposterous. Ben’s not winning any father of the year awards. That’s understood and a given. But warning alarms should have rung at the first sign of Mazzy’s behavior.

Related Sadie Sink & Eric Bana Discuss Cults and Their Flawed Characters in A Sacrifice

Eric Bana and Sadie Sink play father and daughter in the new mystery thriller A Sacrifice, and spoke with MovieWeb about the film.

A Sacrifice Sabotages Itself with an Early Reveal

A Sacrifice broadcasts an important reveal early. This defangs the film’s vital mystery element. The characters are always chasing plot developments that the audience is already aware of. Then you have to sit around and wait for them to catch up. A Sacrifice is sorely in need of a different edit. Its structure doesn’t capitalize on the better bits that could have worked. The final scene lands with an epic thud.

A Sacrifice is a production of Scott Free Productions and Augenschein FilmProduktion. It will be released theatrically on June 28th from Vertical. You can watch a clip below:

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