Anya Taylor-Joy’s new Netflix thriller doesn’t care what the critics think, because it’s one of the biggest movies on streaming. It’s safe to say that Anya Taylor-Joy has had a pretty good year so far. She starred in 2026’s first $1 billion movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. That was followed up by Apple TV’s hit spy thriller, Lucky, and she’s set to reprise her role as Alia Atreides (and hopefully get far more screen time) in Dune: Part Three later this year. But it’s her new action-adventure movie on Netflix, one which was completely torn apart by critics, that’s currently a US hit.
Directed by Romain Gavras, Sacrifice is one of the biggest movies on Netflix right now. The movie debuted on Oct. 16 and quickly shot to the top of the streaming charts. In the week since, it has slowly slid down the charts, but it is still going strong on Netflix’s US Top 10. At the time of writing, Sacrifice is the ninth most popular movie on Netflix. Surviving Hurricane Otis holds the top spot, with Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II in second, and Ben Affleck’s Animals in third.
‘Sacrifice’ Is a Darkly Comedic Action-Adventure Hit
Romain Gavras co-wrote the movie with Will Arbery, as well as directing it himself. Chris Evans leads the movie as Mike Tyler, a struggling actor desperately trying to make a career comeback. A gala Mike attends is taken by surprise by extreme eco-terrorists who kidnap him, and Ben Bracken (Vincent Cassel) and Gloria Bracken (Salma Hayek Pinault) to use as hostages. But they’re not being held for ransom; they’re going to be sacrificed in the name of Mother Nature herself (whom, in this film, is played by Ambika Mod). The movie also stars Sam Richardson, John Malkovich, and Charli XCX (for some reason). The official synopsis reads:
“After the fiery death of their mother, Joan (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her siblings, driven by a mysterious volcanic prophecy, believe it is their duty to cleanse the Earth. Their radical group hijacks a glamorous charity gala and takes three unlikely hostages for a sacrificial ritual: their hero, movie star Mike Tyler (Chris Evans); their villain, pragmatically cold billionaire Ben Bracken (Vincent Cassel); and their lover, an unlucky performer named Katie (Ambika Mod). As the night descends into chaos, both an inward journey and an outward adventure ensue, where the line between performance and belief, salvation and sacrifice, begins to blur.”
‘Sacrifice’ Was a Very Divisive Hit
Sacrifice might be one of the biggest movies on streaming, but it was far from a success with critics. Sacrifice holds a measly 35% Rotten Tomatoes rating from 55 reviews. Unfortunately, none of those 35% positive reviews gave the film 5 stars. And the negative reviews are very negative indeed. Then, there’s the 32% RT audience score, which is a rare instance of audiences agreeing with critics. “Terrible movie from start to finish,” wrote one RT user, while another to-the-point user said, “Not funny at all. Disappointing ending. Pointless. Waste of time.”
