--- title: "Sacrifice" year: 2026 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/sacrifice" fi1m_id: "sacrifice" imdb_id: "tt32268992" tmdb_id: 1284186 wikidata_id: "Q125757803" fi1m_score: 52 critics_score: 50 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-21" updated: "2026-09-21T00:51:30.232113+00:00" region: "NO" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Sacrifice (2026) Directed by Romain Gavras · 1h 43m · Adventure, Comedy, Action ## Identity Sacrifice - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/sacrifice - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** sacrifice - **IMDb ID:** tt32268992 - **TMDB ID:** 1284186 - **Wikidata ID:** Q125757803 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32268992/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1284186, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125757803 **Fi1m score: 52** · Critics 50 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* Chris Evans plays a vain action star so well the film forgets to give him anywhere to go > Romain Gavras stages a party worth crashing, with Chris Evans very funny as a man who cannot stop performing, and then the film walks out of the gala and loses its nerve, its targets and its jokes. ## Synopsis Mike Tyler (Chris Evans) is an action star with a large following and a short attention span, and he has come to a gala for the environment to be seen caring about it. Among the guests are Ben and Gloria Bracken (Vincent Cassel and Salma Hayek), rich, well dressed and pleased with themselves, and Gunnar (John Malkovich), who says less and watches more. The evening is interrupted by a band of eco-activists led by Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy), who believes a disaster is coming and that somebody in this room is the key to stopping it. Mike, who has spent a career pretending to be brave, finds out what the pretence is worth once the danger is real. ## Review Romain Gavras’s *Sacrifice* runs 103 minutes and spends the first stretch of them at a party, and the party is the film. Mike Tyler (Chris Evans) is an action star who has flown in to a gala for the planet so that people can watch him care about it. Ben and Gloria Bracken (Vincent Cassel and Salma Hayek) are the kind of hosts who have a speech ready. Then Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her activists take the evening over. For as long as Gavras stays in that room, the film is quick, sharp about how the rich talk to each other, and often funny. Once it leaves the party it has to decide what it thinks, and it decides several things in turn, none of them for long. Evans is the reason to be here. He plays Mike as a man who has not had an unwatched moment in twenty years and has stopped noticing, so that even fear comes out of him with his chin up and his good side to the light. The script, by Gavras and Will Arbery, gives him the best lines and, more usefully, the best silences, the little pauses in which you can see him checking how he is coming across. We laughed at that, more than once and out loud, and then somewhere past the hour we caught ourselves waiting for the joke to develop, because the film has found one note for him and it plays it until the party ends. It is a fine note. It is still one. Taylor-Joy does the harder, quieter work. Her Joan is certain in the way only the young and the devout are certain, and she never raises her voice when a look will do; the scenes in which she and Evans size each other up are the film’s real tension, and it has less of them than it should. Cassel and Hayek are played broad, and Hayek in particular finds something in Gloria beyond the caricature the script hands her. John Malkovich, as Gunnar, does the dry, unhurried thing he does, and does it well. The casting of Charli xcx as Mother Nature is a joke before it is a part, and the film treats it as the former; Yung Lean, as Arthur, is asked mostly to stand where the camera can find him. The craft is real, and it is where the film’s confusion shows. Matias Boucard lights the gala warm and shallow, faces floating in gold, and then, when the story moves outside, opens the frame wide and cools it, and the later passages have a hypnotic pull that nothing in the writing matches. Arnaud Roth’s design of the party is exact: the right glassware, the right art, the right number of people not looking at it. Hannah Edwards dresses everyone as if for a photograph, which is the point. Surkin’s score is electronic, insistent and loud, and by the second half it is doing the work the script has stopped doing. Benjamin Weill cuts the party fast and the fable slow, and the film changes gear so hard between them that you can hear it. That second half takes a turn we will not describe. What we can say is that it wants us to take seriously, as an idea about faith and sacrifice, something it spent the first hour laughing at, and it has not done the work to earn the switch. The satire aims at people it is easy to hit and hits them; the earnest part aims at something harder and mostly waves in its direction. Neither half is lazy, exactly. Both are incomplete. Gavras’s *Athena*, from 2022, knew what it was angry about from its first shot and never let go. This one is angry about several things and pleased with itself about most of them. It has the eye of that earlier film and none of its grip. Most critics have landed close to where we have, split between a party they enjoyed and a sermon they did not. See it for Evans, who is better than the film around him, and for a first act that earns its laughs. At home you can stop when the guests leave the building, and we would understand if you did. *Fi1m score 52, published 21 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics land in the middle on Romain Gavras’s eco-satire, and the ones who do not are more often against it than for it. What praise there is gathers in two places. The photography and the big set pieces are singled out by reviews that otherwise have little good to say, and Chris Evans’s vain action star is widely thought the best thing in it, believable even when the writing around him is not. Several reviews find the opening stretch at the gala witty and well observed. The reservations are about the satire itself. The targets are called easy and lazily drawn, the politics muddled, and the tone said to slip once the plot leaves the gala. The spread is wide: Deadline finds an emotional payoff that outlasts the jokes, while The Hollywood Reporter calls it a cluttered mess that manages neither sharp comedy nor insight. The AV Club and The Playlist go further, finding nothing under the gestures at all. ## Straight answers **Is Sacrifice worth watching?** *Sacrifice* is worth watching only for Chris Evans and its first act, and we scored it 52. Evans is very funny as an action star who cannot stop performing, and Romain Gavras stages the gala with real bite, but once the film leaves the party it changes its mind about what it is and never earns the switch. Watch for the guests arriving; do not feel obliged to stay for the sermon. **How long is Sacrifice, and what is it rated?** *Sacrifice* runs 1h 43m. It is an adventure and comedy film. **Where can I watch Sacrifice in Norway?** *Sacrifice* is not on any streaming or rental service in Norway at the moment. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Sacrifice, and is it suitable for children?** *Sacrifice* has no UK certificate but carries an R rating in the United States, so it is made for adults and is not suitable for children. Our review says little about its violence; what it does describe is an eco-activist takeover of a gala that turns, in the second half, from satire to something darker and more solemn. Teenagers may find the later stretch more baffling than frightening. **What should I watch after Sacrifice?** After *Sacrifice*, try [*The Menu*](https://film.one/film/the-menu) (2022, Fi1m 72): Rich guests, a locked room and a host with a plan; tighter than this and meaner. Then [*Triangle of Sadness*](https://film.one/film/triangle-of-sadness) (2022, Fi1m 66): Östlund’s yacht of the wealthy sinks slowly and hilariously; the satire actually lands; and [*The Exterminating Angel*](https://film.one/film/the-exterminating-angel) (1962, Fi1m 87): Buñuel traps the dinner party and never explains why; the original and still the sharpest. ### Reviews we read (11) - **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (B-): It's a propulsive comedy that melts into a dreamlike fable, at its best poking fun at easy targets but less interested in that than in ideas about truth and performance; ultimately, it convinces of its message but gives up too much of itself. [Read](https://indiewire.com/criticism/movies/sacrifice-movie-review-romain-gavras-anya-taylor-joy-1235149740) - **The Guardian** (55/100, inferred): The critic finds an initially witty and well-observed satire on celebrity and performative environmentalists that loses its grip once the plot moves beyond the gala setting. Chris Evans delivers a top-tier performance as the vain actor at the centre. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/08/sacrifice-review-starry-satire-pokes-fun-at-celebrity-before-falling-into-a-volcano) - **Screen Daily** (50/100, inferred): The dark satire riffs energetically on celebrity and inequality but is ultimately muddled, working best in hypnotic visual sequences while making a lot of noise without saying much. It has cult potential for younger audiences despite its unfocused message. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/sacrifice-review-chris-evans-and-anya-taylor-joy-head-muddled-romain-gavras-eco-thriller/5208657.article) - **The AV Club**, Natalia Keogan (C-): The film attempts to critique vapid culture's inability to confront climate crisis but delivers a superficial satire relying on caricature, with muddled political insights and no coherent provocation. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/sacrifice-review) - **Variety**, Peter Debruge (50/100, inferred): The critic finds Romain Gavras' satire an audacious but uneven critique of virtue-signaling billionaires and ecoterrorism, where a self-centered movie star's fate becomes central to averting disaster. While noting the film's virtuosity in delivering laughs and thrills, the review highlights struggles with balancing tension and humor, questionable casting choices, and an implausible central premise. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/sacrifice-review-chris-evans-1236517629/) - **Sight and Sound** (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the eco-satire overloaded with visual styles and ideas that fail to cohere, making it too slick and preening to generate real concern over accountability. The photography stands out as a highlight amid the undisciplined mix of tones. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/sacrifice-celebrity-stuffed-eco-satire-takes-aim-virtue-signalling-wealthy-elites) - **Little White Lies**, Mark Asch (35/100, inferred): The timely satire on wealthy elites and eco-activists fails to cut through despite its starry cast and flashy set pieces. Characterization remains vague and the targets too lazily drawn to make a sharp impact. [Read](https://lwlies.com/toronto-film-festival/sacrifice-first-look-review) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Richard Lawson (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a cluttered, comic cri de coeur that starts as satire but ventures into stranger territory about faith and sacrifice, praising its visual style but noting it's a mess with clichés and fails to deliver either sharp comedy or profound insight. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/sacrifice-review-chris-evans-anya-taylor-joy-romain-gavras-1236363828/) - **Deadline**, Damon Wise (80/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as an entertaining eco-satire with a surprisingly emotional impact. It singles out the central character's journey and the unexpected emotional payoff that may outlast the jokes. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/09/sacrifice-review-romain-gavras-anya-taylor-joy-chris-evans-1236530838/) - **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (6/10): The critic finds it a decent adventure but says it doesn't hit hard enough with its satire on celebrity and the rich. Praises the visuals and performances of Evans and Taylor-Joy. [Read](https://collider.com/sacrifice-review-anya-taylor-joy-chris-evans/) - **The Playlist**, Chase Hutchinson (D+): The critic finds the film profoundly glib and devoid of depth, failing to meaningfully engage with environmental themes despite gesturing towards them. Chris Evans is believable as an arrogant action star hack, though the material he is given is uninteresting. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/sacrifice-review-chris-evans-is-a-believable-action-star-hack-in-romain-gavras-glib-thriller-tiff-20250914/) ## Details - **Director:** Romain Gavras - **Director:** Romain Gavras - **Writer:** Will Arbery, Romain Gavras - **Cinematography:** Matias Boucard - **Editor:** Benjamin Weill - **Music:** Surkin - **Production design:** Arnaud Roth - **Costume design:** Hannah Edwards - **Producer:** Romain Gavras, Robert Walak, Gregory Jankilevitsch - **Cast:** Chris Evans as Mike Tyler; Anya Taylor-Joy as Joan; Vincent Cassel as Ben Bracken; Salma Hayek as Gloria Bracken; John Malkovich as Gunnar; Charli xcx as Mother Nature; Yung Lean as Arthur; Sam Richardson as Oliver - **Runtime:** 1h 43m - **First release (Canada):** 6 September 2025 - **Genres:** Adventure, Comedy, Action - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5qW1gMMSVI ## Where to watch in Norway Not streaming, renting or buying in Norway at the last check. ## If you liked this - *The Menu* (2022), Fi1m 72: Rich guests, a locked room and a host with a plan; tighter than this and meaner. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-menu.md) - *Triangle of Sadness* (2022), Fi1m 66: Östlund’s yacht of the wealthy sinks slowly and hilariously; the satire actually lands. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/triangle-of-sadness.md) - *The Exterminating Angel* (1962), Fi1m 87: Buñuel traps the dinner party and never explains why; the original and still the sharpest. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-exterminating-angel.md) - *Bacurau* (2019): A Brazilian village, some rich visitors and a reckoning; angry, strange and fully in control. - *Athena* (2022): Gavras’s earlier film, one long fuse from its first shot; see what focus looks like. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/sacrifice