Sacrifice, the satirical thriller starring Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy, arrived on Netflix on October 16, 2026 — and promptly started a chart battle with Ben Affleck’s Animals. Filmed on a real volcano, it is one of the strangest star vehicles of the year. Here is what it is about.
1. The plot
Evans plays Mike Tyler, a movie star chasing a comeback, who is abducted at a star-studded charity gala by a radical group led by Joan (Taylor-Joy). The group believes that sacrificing three people will save humanity from destruction, and their plan leads to a hostage journey toward a volcano. Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, John Malkovich and Sam Richardson co-star.
2. A real volcano
Director Romain Gavras filmed entirely on location across Greece, Bulgaria and Iceland — and brought his cast onto the slopes of a real active volcano. The team climbed uphill for almost an hour every morning, gear carried by donkeys, to shoot the film’s most dangerous sequences. For one charity-event scene, 200 extras in gala dresses were brought to a mine in northern Greece.
3. From festival to Netflix
Sacrifice premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025, then waited more than a year for a US distributor. Netflix acquired the US and French rights at the Cannes market in May 2026, after a limited Italian theatrical release in August. Critics have been lukewarm, with a 36-38% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 48 on Metacritic.
4. The chart battle
Sacrifice peaked at No. 2 on Netflix’s US chart before settling at No. 3, unable to dethrone Animals. But as a conversation piece — a movie-star satire shot on a live volcano — it has already earned its place in the year’s strangest releases. Watch the trailer on the movie’s page.
