Jenn Wexler’s debut feature The Ranger was a post-modern, punk-rock feminist take on the eighties slasher movie. Now the director is back with her sophomore project, The Sacrifice Game. There is a switch in time period, as The Sacrifice Game shifts back a decade, unfolding in the year 1971. The slasher aesthetics are gone too, this time replaced by a Yuletide tale of Satanic cults and demons.
Set in the lead up to Christmas at a remote boarding school, The Sacrifice Game joins two students, Samantha (Madison Baines) and Clara (Georgia Acken), and their teacher, Rose (Chloë Levine). The three are all that remain of the school, the rest of the faculty and student body having gone home for the holidays. Although not an ideal way to spend the festive season, Rose endeavours to give the girls a little taste of home comforts. Their peace comes under threat however, when a group of wayward killers knock on their door with grand designs of completing an ancient ritual.
One of The Sacrifice Game’s strongest suits is its casting. Each actor personifies their character perfectly. Aladdin’s Mena Massoud is especially evil as the head of the cult of killers. Wexler reteams with The Ranger lead, Chloë Levine, who gives an excellent performance as the young teacher who must protect her young wards. The highlight of the cast though is the pairing of both Baines and Acken. The two play teenagers, and for once, they have been cast age appropriately. Wexler skirts the long-standing tradition of casting twenty or thirty somethings, and the venture leads to a more palatable story.
Wexler deviates from the expectations of both a Christmas movie, and a film set in the seventies. The boarding school is bare of Christmas decorations with the exception of one tree, and Wexler does not feel compelled to go crazy with the red or green lights. Christmas is instead used as a convenient plot device to ensure the three young women are alone. Similarly, The Sacrifice Game doesn’t populate itself with stereotypical seventies archetypes. None of the characters are hippies, and the fashion is kept muted when compared to the styles of the period. By being conservative with both aspects, the viewer is not unduly distracted and can allow themselves to become absorbed in the intense hostage situation playing out on screen.
The Sacrifice Game is not a straightforward story. As the film progresses it twists and turns on itself, causing the viewer to question the involvement and intentions of everyone involved. As it arrives at its final formation, all Hell is unleashed and the viewer is rewarded with a wickedly devious last act. A very different beast to The Ranger, with The Sacrifice Game Wexler proves herself to be more than a one trick pony, and a talented voice to keep a close eye on.
The Sacrifice Game
Summary
Christmas, ritual, and killers collide in Jenn Wexler’s sophomore feature, which is filled to the brim with tricks and treats.
The Sacrifice Game was reviewed at Fantasia International Film Festival. The Sacrifice Game will next screen at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest in August. The Sacrifice Game will be released later this year.
