Sacrifice will stream on Netflix October 16, and its new trailer turns an elegant charity gala into a frantic fight over the end of the world. Chris Evans plays Mike Tyler, a once-famous action star whose career and confidence have both seen better days.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Joan, the leader of a group that crashes the event with an extraordinary demand. Her followers believe an extinction event will happen in three days unless three people are sacrificed to a volcano.
A glamorous night becomes a hostage crisis
The gala is hosted by billionaire Ben Bracken, played by Vincent Cassel, and Gloria, played by Salma Hayek-Pinault. Their wealthy guests expect a polished evening. Instead, Joan and her group take control and begin choosing people for a ritual they believe can save the planet.
Mike is pulled into the plan while still trying to manage his own public collapse. That makes him an unusual action hero: he has the image and old screen experience, but none of the certainty that usually comes with the role.
Director Romain Gavras described the movie in simple terms: “The film is kind of a roller coaster.” The trailer supports that description, jumping between satire, panic, armed confrontation and the growing possibility that Joan may be more persuasive than anyone expected.
The cast stretches far beyond the two leads
Ambika Mod, Yung Lean, Sam Richardson, Jade Croot, Miriam Silverman, Charli XCX and John Malkovich also appear. The group gives the gala a deliberately unpredictable mix of celebrities, wealthy guests, true believers and people simply trying to survive the night.
Gavras wrote the screenplay with Will Arbery. The production filmed in Greece, Bulgaria and Iceland, including work near a real active volcano. Those locations give the story a physical scale that matches its increasingly absurd threat.
Taylor-Joy said the production felt like “cold water in the face to that.” Her performance places Joan between calm conviction and dangerous control, making it difficult for the hostages to dismiss her as just another intruder.
Sacrifice mixes comedy with real danger
The premise sounds apocalyptic, but the movie is not presented as a straight disaster thriller. Mike’s fading fame, the gala’s rich crowd and the cult’s absolute confidence all create room for dark comedy.
At the same time, the weapons and hostage situation keep the danger real. The central tension is not only whether the prophecy is true. It is whether frightened people will begin to accept Joan’s logic when the countdown gets shorter.
Sacrifice is rated R and runs 1 hour and 40 minutes. It launches October 16 in the United States and France. With Evans playing against his usual heroic image and Taylor-Joy commanding the room, the film looks designed to keep changing its tone right up to the volcano.
