Some films are easy to summarise. Sacrifice is not, and that is part of its appeal. Romain Gavras’s satirical thriller arrived on Netflix on October 16, 2026, and the premise sounds like a dare. Chris Evans plays Mike Tyler, a fading action star trying to repair his image after a flamethrower mishap. His comeback stage is a glamorous charity gala on a Greek island, hosted by a tech billionaire played by Vincent Cassel and his pop-star wife, played by Salma Hayek Pinault.
The evening collapses when an eco-radical group led by Anya Taylor-Joy’s Joan takes the guests hostage. Raised on the island by their father, played by John Malkovich, Joan and her siblings believe a volcanic prophecy: three people must go into the crater within three days or the world ends. They need a hero, a villain and a lover, and the hostages are dragged into casting the roles. Mike, hungry for a part, does not quite grasp what he is auditioning for.
Gavras, known for the intense drama Athena, wrote the script with playwright Will Arbery, and the tone jumps between action, black comedy and a fable about the very rich and the climate crisis. Charli xcx and Ambika Mod round out a surprising cast. Reviews are mixed, with a Metacritic score in the high forties, yet critics broadly agree that Evans is having fun playing a vain and nervous movie star.
Cast, plot and the critical split are covered in this look at Sacrifice on Netflix.
Our directory verdict: at around an hour and forty minutes, it is a small gamble. Pick it if you enjoy strange, colourful satire and do not need every symbol explained.
