The Sacrifice Game

"This Christmas, raise a little hell."

Director: Jenn Wexler Year: 2023 Runtime: 99 min IMDb: ⭐ 6.0
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Synopsis

Christmas break, 1971. Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, must survive the night after the arrival of uninvited visitors.

At Blackvale Academy, an all-girls boarding school, two students, Clara and Samantha, have stayed behind for Christmas with their teacher Rose and her boyfriend Jimmy. A group of murderers, Jude, Maisie, Grant, and Doug, have been terrorizing the nearby towns with a series of ritualistic murders based on a demon summoning ritual Maisie discovered while attending Blackvale. A chance encounter with a police officer forces the killers to take refuge in Blackvale, where they quickly capture and restrain Rose and the others, killing Jimmy in the process. They decide to finish the ritual at Blackwood by slaughtering Rose, only to grow frustrated when the promised demon doesn't show itself. Maisie goes to the basement with Jude to investigate the spellbook where she obtained the spell, in the process discovering that she had only obtained part of the ritual and that the final sacrifice must be someone unpure. Doug goes after them, leaving Clara and Samantha alone with Grant. Jude wanders off after acting strangely. As Maisie reads the spell, she realizes that the ritual is intended to free a demon, Clara. Clara is then shown using her powers on Grant and compells him to free Samantha, whom she instructs to leave her behind and flee for safety. The demon then uses her powers to mentally overtake Grant, using him to capture and render Jude, Maisie, and Doug unconscious. Samantha manages to flee to a security station and call the police, but chooses to return in order to save Clara. Maisie awakens to discover that Clara has imprisoned them without their clothes in order to complete the ritual. Clara reveals that she was imprisoned within the school walls centuries earlier after the townspeople changed their minds while summoning her. Clara forces them to make various personal sacrifices, culminating in the deaths of Doug and Jude. Maisie manages to break Clara's control over Grant, who kills himself. Samantha returns and discovers that Clara is the demon, further breaking Clara's control and freeing Maisie - who begins fleeing - wearing only her underwear. Upset, Clara demands to know why Samantha returned; she responds that she couldn't leave a friend behind. The two argue, as Clara refuses to believe that anyone could care about her. She asks that Samantha free her by killing Maisie as she escapes into the snow. Samantha complies and the film ends with her and Clara leaving to travel the world together.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

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Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler A teenage girl is forced to change her clothes in front of spectators.
a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian
Yes
there's child abuse
Yes
a woman is brutalized for spectacle
spoiler A woman has a shirt torn off and her stomach stabbed
there's domestic violence
spoiler A boyfriend chokes his gf briefly
someone gets gaslighted
Yes
alcohol abuse
Yes
an animal dies
spoiler Deer killed by car crash around 21 mins 27 seconds
there's a dead animal
spoiler Dead deer hit by car & dragged from road
animals are abused
spoiler A deer is hit by a car in an apparent accident, later suggested to have been orchestrated as part of a ritual. The deer does not appear to suffer.
there's finger/toe mutilation
Yes
there's amputation
Yes
someone is restrained
Yes
a woman gets slapped
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
Yes
a non-human character dies
Yes
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
Yes
someone sacrifices themselves
Yes
a parent dies
Yes
there are jump scares
Yes
someone is possessed
Yes
there are shower scenes
Yes
a mentally ill person is violent
Yes
someone suffers from PTSD
spoiler One of the characters is a Vietnam vet
someone has a mental illness
Yes
someone's throat is mutilated
Yes
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
someone asphyxiates
Yes
somebody is choked
Yes
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
there's fat jokes
Yes
religion is discussed
Yes
there's demons or Hell
Yes
someone dies by suicide
Yes
Someone attempts suicide
Yes
someone self harms
Yes
there is sexual content
Yes
someone is sexually objectified
Yes
existentialism is debated
Yes
the ending is sad
Yes
a person is hit by a car
Yes
a car crashes
Yes
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
Yes
there's excessive gore
spoiler This is of course subjective. While I don't think the gore is unjustified, I suspect viewers who'd consider this a sticking point will find several of the stabbings and at least one sequence with a patch of skin is cut from a struggling victim a bridge too far.
there's torture
Yes
there's shaving/cutting
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes

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