A Twisted Game of Life and Death Unfolds in This Bone-Chilling Horror on Shudder

Christmas hospitality takes on a whole new meaning in The Sacrifice Game — letting guests in on Christmas Eve only for the dinner table to be lined with blood, violence and archaic symbols. Director Jennifer Wexler’s feature may seem like a conventional home invasion flick, but a morbidly supernatural twist catches us off-guard, as the two genres meet to create a twisted game of life and death. The horror film flits between genres and narrative beats, keeping us guessing at every corner with the most devilishly clever pirouettes. This is also shaped by the unpredictable characters, with Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street trilogy), Georgia Acken and Madison Baines particularly taking the lead.

What Is ‘the Sacrifice Game’ About?

It is Christmas Eve and while the town is stringing up lights, they are also hunkering down for the chilly night after a string of brutal murders made the newspapers in the last couple of weeks. The Sacrifice Game is set at a boarding school, where Samantha (Baines) stays over the holidays after a stressful call with her parents, alongside the always overlooked, sits-in-the-back-type Clara (Acken). Their chaperon Rose (Chloe Levine) stays behind with them and tries to bring Christmas cheer into the dour hallways.

As Samantha and Clara strike up a tentative friendship, all seems well until a group of strangers knocks on the door, who we know to be the killers from the opening scene. Rose may have hesitantly invited the group in to tend to the injured member, but the film quickly spirals into a heart-racing chase as the guests decide to prolong their stay. When the three occupants are tied up, a satanic game begins with humiliation, rancid laughter and tears filling the air. But the film quickly devolves as a jaw-dropping plot twist upends the rules of this paranormal game, making way for something more malevolent.

‘The Sacrifice Game’ Is a Home Invasion With a Supernatural Twist

The Sacrifice Game eagerly flits between the hallmarks of a home invasion horror and a supernatural film. When the strangers first introduce themselves, there is biting tension and palpable fear, which intensifies as they begin to stalk the girl down the dim hallways. When they are captured, the scene echoes that of The Strangers, where the intruders laugh barbarically at their victims’ helplessness, relishing their power over human life. But the genre-bending film then seeps into the paranormal realm, as rituals, symbols and sacrifices take over the screen. Sprinkle the Christmas decorations and ’90s retro style on top and everything is rendered even more uncanny.

Alongside its genre-bending tendencies, the film’s plot is drenched in unpredictability, with distinct narrative beats that you wouldn’t usually put together being woven seamlessly into each other. From the manic whirlwind of a scene when the murderers declare their intentions to play a sick and humiliating game, we rush headlong into unanticipated territory that constantly demands our attention. When we do settle down and believe we finally have everything figured out, the third act rolls in, filled with unchecked violence, exalting revenge and another dinner-table game that makes the former look like child’s play.

Unpredictable Horror Villains Lead ‘The Sacrifice Game’

Naturally, the characters play into The Sacrifice Game‘s unpredictability with how they are written and performed. Massoud, in particular, plays the erratic lead villain with a cartoonish psychopathy, plastering on bulging eyes and a sickly, cheery grin. It seems as if he is constantly teetering on the edge of a paroxysm, made creepier with the straight-up strange and twisted dialogue that makes us balk. With slicked-back James Dean hair and white singlet, he is the paragon of how we envision as a ’90s serial killer: slimy, freakishly put together and terrifying.

The impulsive villains are complemented by Baines’ and Acken’s contrasting performances as young leads. While Baines plays the familiar good girl who we can easily sympathize with, Acken imbues her character with a sense of being misunderstood. Clara’s vague creepiness as an outsider is mediated by Acken’s sweet and intelligent performance, making us root for both the resourceful protagonists. But there are unsettling undertones that preface the dark twist we don’t expect from either of them, keeping us on edge throughout the film. The Sacrifice Game twists and turns in on itself with its genre, plot and performances, making us never look at a Christmas dinner or spirit the same way again.

The Sacrifice Game is available to stream on Shudder in the U.S.

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