Christmas holidays at an isolated boarding school go to hell when a gang of murderous cultists turn up on the doorstep looking to slake an ancient bloodthirst. Home alone on Christmas Eve, students Samantha (Madison Baines), Clara (Georgia Acken) and teacher Rose (Chloë Levine) find themselves guests of honour at an ancient bloodletting ritual… but is there more going on here than meets the eye?
Director Jenn Wexler returns with this festive take on the home invasion / Satanic panic horror movie, bringing a similar punk energy that accompanied her 2018 slasher film, The Ranger. It’s clear from the off that The Sacrifice Game has more up its sleeve than your average home school invasion horror film, and much of the joy is in getting there.
Pitting a repulsive set of villains (led by Mena Massoud’s charismatic Jude and Olivia Scott Welch as Maisie) against its doe-eyed heroines – and the unsettlingly calm Clara – the film lays out its pieces neatly and effectively. What follows is a not entirely unpredictable but always captivating game of cat-and-mouse between hunter and hunted – a cannier, more mischievous version of this year’s Knock at the Cabin. As the bodies pile up, the film grows wilder, coming into its own and letting the characters take over.
This is another powerful outing from Wexler, and should win over its cult viewership in the same way as The Ranger did – while also deserving the same larger audience that The Ranger should’ve had too. A darkly festive treat with plenty of twists in its stocking.
THE SACRIFICE GAME is out on Shudder UK & Ireland on December 8
