Sacrifice new images just dropped, and honestly, what is Anya Taylor-Joy doing? The fresh stills from Romain Gavras upcoming eco-satire show her as Joan, a doomsday cult leader with a stare so intense it could melt steel. She is surrounded by Chris Evans, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, and somehow Charli XCX and Yung Lean are also there. This cast list reads like a fever dream, and the images confirm it.
Gavras, the French director who made Athena look like a warzone ballet, is back with his English-language debut. Sacrifice follows Joan as she kidnaps three people she believes can save humanity from a fiery apocalypse. Her hostages include Mike Tyler, a washed-up movie star played by Evans, and Ben Bracken, the world richest man played by Cassel. There is also Katie, played by Ambika Mod, who is just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place. The whole thing is part hostage thriller, part eat-the-rich satire, and completely unhinged.
The new stills show Taylor-Joy in full prophet mode, draped in what looks like religious-meets-military gear with a militia of disciples behind her. Evans appears sweaty and desperate, which is a fun look for Captain America. Cassel and Hayek look like they are attending a gala that turned into a hostage situation, which is basically exactly what happens. John Malkovich shows up as Joan father, because of course he does. The man was born to play cult-adjacent patriarchs.
Netflix picked up the U.S. rights after the film premiered at Toronto last year, and the streamer is clearly betting on this chaos. Sacrifice is scheduled to hit theaters internationally before landing on Netflix stateside, so there will be a theatrical window for anyone who wants to see this madness on the biggest screen possible. Given Gavras background in music videos, the visual scale is apparently massive. Helicopters, lavish sets, and enough bold imagery to justify the IMAX ticket. The color palette alone looks like someone set a luxury fashion shoot on fire.
The reviews from Toronto were mixed, to put it kindly. Rotten Tomatoes sits at thirty-eight percent, and Metacritic gave it a forty-eight. Critics called it cluttered and erratic, though some admitted it is entertaining with a surprisingly emotional impact. But here is the thing. A messy movie with this cast and this director is often more interesting than a polished bore. Sacrifice is not trying to be safe. It is trying to be a maximalist cry against wealth, climate dread, and blind faith, and sometimes that kind of ambition misses the mark in fascinating ways.
The film drops August 2026, which gives everyone plenty of time to decide if they are in for the cult content or if they are skipping it. Based on these new images, Sacrifice is going to be one of those movies you cannot look away from even when you want to. Taylor-Joy as a zealot? Evans as a desperate movie star? Charli XCX as Mother Nature? This is either a masterpiece or a beautiful disaster. Either way, we are watching.
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