An adaptation of Nicholas Hogg‘s novel Tokyo, relocated to Berlin, writer/director Jordan Scott‘s darkly atmospheric A Sacrifice (2024), originally titled Berlin Nobody, kicks off verging on decent and thought-provoking, but quickly slips into a rushed set of simplified conclusions which undermine the backbone of a solid story tackling important themes — the danger of groupthink, eco-doomsday cults, and the siren spell of internet gurus offering comfort and platitudes.
A melancholy Eric Bana, as Ben Monroe, a social psychologist from the US, now dwelling in Berlin, recently separated, is researching the collective mind, and writing a book on it in the process. He is invited by a colleague to view a cult-like group suicide scene, which leads the investigators to suspect more to come. While at the scene Ben is introduced to the no-nonsense Nina (Sylvia Hoeks), the head detective, whom he becomes intimate with. In the meantime, his spirited teen daughter Mazzy, a perfectly cast Sadie Sink, arrives for an intercontinental visit, and is instantly seduced by a seemingly sweet young fellow called Martin (a soulful Jonas Dassler), whom we soon witness binging on hypnotic eco-warrior video clips in pauses of pursuing Mazzy in a rather stalker-ish way. Ben lures her to group meetings of his environmental NGO — and its charismatic matron Hilma (a disturbingly mesmerising Sophie Rois) instantly offers Mazzy a soothing tarantula-like eco-friendly pep talk, sensing her strained family ties and a vulnerable need to belong.
Except for the unnecessary plot twists, which become exponentially less believable as time passes, and the disconcerting switching of genres (twice) mid-stream (a complex psychological thriller is not a high concept action flick, while ghostly apparitions only cheapen the vibe), most of the narrative proceedings do not come as a surprise. Ben must save his daughter from the grips of a suicide cult he had already been unwittingly studying, and he is running out of time.
My personal frustration with an underdeveloped screenplay and a contrived plot was at times alleviated by the excellent photography (Julie Kirkwood) of A Sacrifice, and its haunting sense of place, as well as the right kind of anxiety-laden mood enveloping the set. Nevertheless, the actors had little to work with in terms of dialogue or nuance, which, in turn, impacted the way the menace of the tale was delivered, sabotaging the zeitgeist dread of the story told.
Excellent actors, a perfectly pitched premise, yet not enough care placed in developing detail and backstory, all amounted to a fine chance wasted.
★★☆☆☆
Author: ©Milana Vujkov
Lola On Film 