With a title like The Sacrifice Game, you might think you know what you’re getting into with director Jenn Wexler’s sophomore feature. I promise you, you do not. Blending the instinctual terror of home invasion horror with something altogether more fantastical, The Sacrifice Game slyly dodges expectations at every turn, making for a devilishly fun addition to your holiday horror viewing.
Set in December 1971, the film opens swinging with a slick sequence that oozes Manson-era anxieties. We’re then introduced to our protagonist, Blackvale boarding school student Samantha (Madison Baines), who’s reeling from the news that she can’t go home for the holidays as planned. At least she won’t be alone: reserved student Clara (Georgia Acken), teacher Rose (Chloë Levine), and Rose’s boyfriend Jimmy (Gus Kenworthy) will be staying behind, too.
Unfortunately, they’re not the only creatures stirring in the vast halls of Blackvale on that fateful night before Christmas. The killer cult that has been slashing its way across the state soon arrives at their door with a terrifying plan. And that’s when the fun really starts.
Genres Collide and Blood Flows
The idea of strangers breaking into your home is a fear that cuts deep for many of us. The first act of The Sacrifice Game presses its finger hard into that wound, with Baines and Levine perfectly selling the panic as Samantha cries through her gag and Rose tries to be brave for the girls.
Things begin to turn when the cult reveals why they’re there. Tensions and conflicting priorities within the group, already teased, slowly rise to the surface as snags appear in the plan. Wexler and Sean Redlitz’s script takes the opportunity to flesh out the killers, giving egotistical Jude (Mena Massoud), in-over-her-head Maisie (Olivia Scott Welch), quiet Grant (Derek Johns), and mouthy Doug (Laurent Pitre) plenty to play with as the film gears up to pull the rug out from under everyone.
Because The Sacrifice Game isn’t a straightforward home invasion horror. It’s not a straightforward anything. The script confidently switches genres in the blink of an eye, changing the stakes and shifting the upper hand with each reveal as it propels us toward a bloody climax.
A Strong Supporting Cast Allows the Young Leads to Steal the Show
Levine shone in Wexler’s debut feature, The Ranger, and she shines here, too, her earnest eyes selling Rose’s emotion even with a gag in her mouth. But this is not Levine’s movie. The Sacrifice Game belongs to its young leads, both relative newcomers, who steal the show with the confidence of seasoned stars.
Our first introduction to Samantha makes her seem more grown up than she is as she jogs in the snow. She’s becoming a young lady, demonstrating empathy her peers lack for picked-on classmate Clara, whose hunched posture makes her seem even smaller than she is.
Samantha’s youth starts to show as she receives the phone call telling her she won’t be going home, triggering pleading and tears — the first of many Baines will be shedding in the film. Her energy is perfectly contrasted by Acken, who imbues Clara with a quiet, unexpected confidence that adds to the intrigue of the plot.
This is Acken’s first feature, but watching her performance, you wouldn’t know it. The fun she’s having is contagious; she will grab you by the hand and drag you skipping into whatever danger lies around the next bend.
The Sacrifice Game Will Keep You Guessing to the Bloody End
The Sacrifice Game is not the film I expected Wexler to make after The Ranger. Far from the raw punk shout of her debut, The Sacrifice Game displays a level of polish and precision that emphasizes her versatility as a director, without losing the fun.
With a stand-out cast, a fantastic score by Mario Sévigny, and a delightfully twisty script that isn’t afraid to breathe when it needs to, The Sacrifice Game is destined to become an instant holiday horror hit when it arrives on Shudder on December 8th. Sure, some of the gore moments look better than others — but when the film bleeds, it gushes.