A Satanic cult takes on students and teachers in a Boarding school at Christmas. Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game takes that pitch and does some wild things with it.
The holiday home invasion is a surprisingly rich vein of festive fear (and farce). The Sacrifice Game acknowledges this by adding intriguing ingredients to the tried and tested recipe.
It’s Christmas break, 1971. Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken), are two students staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school. Along with a sympathetic teacher, they prepare for a somewhat unconventional Christmas, but things get far more unconventional than expected when a group of uninvited visitors turn up on their doorstep with Satanic shenanigans in mind.
Christmas is merely the backdrop for what’s going on, but it makes for an interesting isolation setup to drive home the menace of an invading force in an understaffed place. It doesn’t play out like a siege, but instead plays it like a cat-and-mouse game as students and teacher have to improvise against a seemingly certain fate.
There’s a darkly comedic edge to The Sacrifice Game, and most of that comes from the invading cult. Mena Massoud may be best known for playing a live-action Alladin in the Disney remake, but he brushes off the nice guy image with a delightfully dastardly villain role. His character Jude is a swarthy, egotistical killer with slick style and murderous intent.
The cult slowly shows what drives their actions, and at times are disturbingly casual about what they must do to get what they want. They’re playful in a sickening fashion that offers up the potential of a brutal gauntlet for their latest victims.
The scope of the enormous empty location adds a different dimension to the home invasion angle, especially when compared to the cult’s earlier, more intimate sacrifices. So that keeps things interesting during a largely routine story up to that point, but Jenn Wexler flips the script, turning the tables on the invaders in a deliciously dark and different way than you might expect.
Wexler’s attitude to conventions is pleasingly flippant, and almost no important character feels the same by the end. As we spend more and more time with them, each gets new and interesting layers that helps to push the film in a different direction. Going back to Massoud’s character, the second half of the film reveals the truth of his personality, and while that makes him less fun to watch, it’s smart. The somewhat subversive layering of what could have been a one-dimensional villain. His cohorts move in to take the lead, so to speak, as this happens at least.
But if anyone grows superbly into their role as the film unfurls, it’s Georgia Acken as Clara. An almost stereotypical damaged teen facade gradually dissipates the longer the invasion goes on. It’s not a total rug pull as Clara’s growing friendship with Samantha remains genuine throughout, but you can tell how delighted the film is with itself to shift perspectives on her and other characters slowly
While the core of The Sacrifice Game is typical in its structure, it’s so refreshingly fun at playing about with that. It’s actually quite impressive how so many character shifts are not only taken on, but actually well executed.
Does The Sacrifice Game stick the blade in with its eventual payoff? By then, the best of what the film can offer has largely played out, and it sort of meanders, bloodily at least, to a slightly underwhelming conclusion. But the subversion of its tropes makes for an enjoyable slay ride along the way.
Score: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to ”Good”. A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
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