Chris vs. the Volcano: Anya Taylor-Joy Takes Chris Evans to the Mouth of Madness in Netflix’s ‘Sacrifice’
Anya Taylor-Joy wants to save the world, and is willing to Sacrifice Chris Evans to do it.
Taylor-Joy plays Joan, an activist who infiltrates a gala where celebrities pat themselves on the back for their dedication to environmental causes in Sacrifice, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and which will stream on Netflix next month. Joan picks three of the stars in attendance to serve as hostages, one being deeply insecure movie star Mike Tyler, played by Chris Evans.
Joan isn’t looking for a ransom, though. No, she wants her captives, including billionaire Ben Bracken (Vincent Cassel) and ‘Daughter Nature’ (Ambika Mod) to appease the earth by jumping into an active volcano. In the trailer, Taylor-Joy’s character bursts into the gala following a modern dance act, and when she fires her gun into the ceiling, she receives a round of applause.
Per Netflix’s Tudum site, Sacrifice blends “dark comedy, high-stakes suspense, and psychological drama [and] takes aim at celebrity culture, media spectacle, performative activism, and elite hypocrisy while exploring larger questions of faith, conviction, redemption, and the search for meaning in a world built on appearances. As tensions rise and the line between belief and delusion begins to blur, the film transforms from a razor-sharp social satire into a suspenseful race against time.”

Athena director Romain Gavras helmed Sacrifice from a script he co-wrote with Will Arbery, basing the story in part on Greek myths. “In myths, everything is a little bit heightened,” Gavras tells Netflix. “The violence is exacerbated, the humor can be exacerbated, the stakes are exacerbated, and there are echoes with the past and the future,” he said in the Tudum press release.
Also appearing in Sacrifice are Jonatan “Yung Lean” Leandoer as Arthur, Sam Richardson as Oliver, Jade Croot as Louise, Miriam Silverman as Anna. Charli XCX as Mother Nature, John Malkovich as Gunnar, and Salma Hayek-Pinault as Gloria Bracken.

“It’s such a meta movie to be a part of,” said Taylor-Joy in the release. “I see a lot about individual effort versus collective effort. I see a lot about just how numb people have become, the lack of importance placed on things that actually matter rather than this easier, entertaining way of looking at things. It’s this concept that you can sweep things under the rug, and I think Joan and her tribe are cold water in the face to that.”
Sacrifice will erupt onto your screens when Netflix debuts it on October 16th.


