Anya Taylor-Joy’s Bonkers Action Thriller Officially Lands a Netflix Premiere Date

There are worse ways for a charity gala to end than being kidnapped by Anya Taylor-Joy. However, Chris Evans probably won’t see it that way when she tries to throw him into a volcano. That’s the wild setup behind one of Netflix’s biggest new movies this month.

Sacrifice will officially begin streaming on Netflix in the United States and France on October 16. The action-packed dark comedy comes from Romain Gavras (Athena) and teams Taylor-Joy with Evans. The story mixes celebrities, eco-warriors, Greek mythology, a doomsday cult and, yes, an actual volcano.

The movie follows Tyler (Evans), a vain and failing movie star trying to regain his former glory, while his comeback bid starts at a glitzy black-tie gala thrown by a billionaire entrepreneur and his wife. However, the party is pooped upon rather a lot when Joan (Taylor-Joy) and her radical followers storm in, convinced they’re fated to fulfill a volcanic prophecy and cleanse the Earth. Sounds okay, actually. The movie takes aim at celebrity culture, media spectacle, performative activism, and elite hypocrisy while exploring larger questions of faith, conviction, redemption, and the search for meaning in a world built on appearances. As tensions rise and the line between belief and delusion begins to blur, the film transforms from a razor-sharp social satire into a suspenseful race against time.

The cast is led by Evans (Avengers: Endgame) as Mike and Taylor-Joy (Furiosa) as Joan. Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Salma Hayek Pinault (House of Gucci), John Malkovich (Con Air), Sam Richardson (Veep), Ambika Mod (One Day), Charli XCX, and Yung Lean also star.

What Inspired ‘Sacrifice’?

Gavras and co-writer Will Arbery have based the film, or rather been inspired by, lots of things from the likes of Greek mythology, Joan of Arc and even Lord of the Rings, with Gavras adding they eventually realized they had written another story about a group of people traveling toward a volcano with something important.

The filmmakers didn’t want to fake everything on a soundstage, either. Sacrifice filmed in Greece, Bulgaria and Iceland. Gavras revealed that hundreds of extras dressed in formal clothing and filmed inside a working mine. The cast and crew also had to climb for almost an hour to reach a real active volcano. So, yes, Taylor-Joy trying to throw Captain America into a volcano is apparently only part of how wild this production became.

Sacrifice premieres on Netflix in the United States and France on October 16.