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Film: The Sacrifice Game
Year: 2023
Director: Jenn Wexler
Writers: Sean Redlitz and Jenn Wexler
Starring: Georgia Acken, Madison Baines and Mena Massoud
Review:
This was a movie that I heard about through the Night Club discord group that I’m in. They seemed to be positive in the fact that this does good things, but it fell short from what I was seeing. When I was looking for the last few new 2023 films that I was going to watch for my end of year list, I figured that I would check this out to see what I thought. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much more than that and the title.
Synopsis: it’s bad enough that boarding school students Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken) can’t go home for the holidays, but things take a deadly turn when a murderous gang arrives on the doorstep – just in time for Christmas.
The events of this movie start on December 22 of 1971. We hear carolers and then see them leaving a house. That is when another group rings the doorbell. Jude (Mena Massoud) is their leader and he’s with his girlfriend, Maisie (Olivia Scott Welch), and two friends, Grant (Derek Johns) and Doug (Laurent Pitre). They attack the family living there.
We then shift over to Clara waking up in her bed. It almost seems like what happened was in her nightmare. The movie then shifts outside where Samantha goes for a run. We then see her in the shower where she is bullied by the other girls. Everyone is preparing to go home for Christmas break. That is everyone, but Clara. There is a situation here where a teacher gets in trouble for the students learning of the killings that we saw to start this. The attackers are dubbed ‘The Christmas Killers’. The teacher is Rose (Chloë Levine). It was her boyfriend who also works here who gave the students the paper. His name is Jimmy (Gus Kenworthy).
Sam is then upset to learn through a phone call from her stepfather that she is staying at the school over break. Rose is also staying and trying to cheer her up. To make the best of it, Sam tries to befriend Clara. There is something quite odd about this girl. Sam walks in on her in the bathroom and it looks like she is cutting herself. It seems like she has scars all over her arm.
Our killers aren’t done yet. They next attack a priest in a church. They also kill a police officer that they meet after hitting a deer. This group is heading for this boarding school and it seems like Maisie attended here years ago. The group is trying to complete a ritual that will give them eternal life. Maisie is going off a page she took from a book in the basement. There could be more to the ritual and it might not be exactly like she thought. This will be a Christmas that none of these people will forget.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that there are interesting elements to this. I love the idea that we have this group trying to do a ritual. This involves them killing certain people and cutting off parts of their skin. They all seem connected with scars or birthmarks that they have on their body. There is this idea that they are in over their head and meddling with things that they don’t fully understand. This also has an interesting variation that I’ll be honest, I did guess before it was revealed. I still like what they did with the story there. Let me then explore these elements more.
First, I want to start by saying that I liked the fact that this was a period film. It takes place in 1971. That explains why we don’t have cellphones or anything like that. It would also fall into that era of satanic panic. I do believe this would be the beginning of it. I also like that this technically is a Christmas movie. It is more incidental when it takes place from what I remember. The ritual might need to be completed by then, but I’m not sure if that was the case. I don’t think it is significant outside of the fact that it explains why we only have four people still at the school. Regardless, these elements were good.
Next then I want to discuss the theme of this which feels like ‘be careful what you wish for’. Maisie stole a page from this book that is kept at the school and convinces these other three guys to help her with the ritual. Jude explains his history that he grew up the son of a minister. He has a God complex that comes out as they kill. He goes as far to believe that he is the demon after they ‘complete’ the ritual. Grant is a war veteran who is broken. I like what happens to him. There is also Doug who wants to date Maisie. She doesn’t seem interested. There is also the idea here that the ritual isn’t easy. They do complete what they think it is and that just starts it.
I’m going to then shift over to acting. I think that helps to convey what we need here. Massoud is great as this guy who snaps. He goes crazy and it is interesting how things play out there. Welch was solid as this woman who doesn’t fully understand the forces she is messing with. I also like what they do with Johns and Pitre. The former is quiet and that works since he’s the muscle. Pitre is someone I feel bad for as he is madly in love with Maisie, but she doesn’t share that. Baines is good as the character that is set up as our lead. I like seeing her traverse what happens this night. The best performance though is Acken. What is good there is that it sets up there is something off about her. As that gets developed, it gets much darker. Other than that, Levine, Kenworthy and the rest of the cast push everyone to where they need to end.
There is an issue that I have and it comes with filmmaking. I’ll start with the positives. I like what they do with cinematography. There are interesting things that they do with framing and setting up shots. Also, setting up how isolated this school was great as well. There are good effects here. It seemed to me that they went practical, which I’m always a fan of. The blood looks real and I like how the wounds do as well. The soundtrack also fits for what was needed. The issue that I have though is that this loses steam later in the second act. We have a solid runtime of 100 minutes. I just got bored and things meander a bit there. It does feel like trimming ten minutes and this works better for me.
In conclusion, I love aspects of this movie. We are getting this taking place in the past. I think that was partially for technology as well as the time it is set with the state of people’s fear. It is interesting to have this taking place at an isolated boarding school over break. The acting is good to bring the characters to life. This is also well-made with the effects and framing leading the way there. My issue is that it runs a bit too long for my liking and my interest waned. This is still worth a watch. It uses Christmas to clear out the school, but I wouldn’t say that it falls too much into the holiday. This is still worth a watch in my opinion as it is still solid.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10