Sacrifice is streaming now on Netflix in the US, where it arrived Friday, October 16, 2026. It is included with any Netflix plan, so there is no rental fee to watch — just press play.
Here is where to find Romain Gavras’s star-stacked satire, what a subscription costs, who stars in it, and what the film is actually about. It is one of Netflix’s splashier fall originals, so if the trailer has been following you around the home screen, this is the piece that answers your questions before you commit a night to it.
Where and when to watch
Sacrifice premiered on Netflix on October 16th and is available worldwide, including the US, right now. Because Netflix releases its originals simultaneously across regions, there is no separate US date to wait for — the film is already sitting in the New & Popular row.
For reference, Netflix dropped it at its usual global time, 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET, on October 16th. The movie had a brief theatrical run earlier in the fall, including an August bow in Italy, before Netflix — which picked up streaming rights in May 2026 — brought it to the service.
How much does it cost?
There is no extra charge for Sacrifice; it is covered by any active Netflix subscription. Netflix raised its US prices across the board in 2026: the ad-supported plan now starts around $7.99 to $8.99 per month, while the ad-free Premium (4K) tier runs $26.99 per month. Because the rates shifted recently, check netflix.com for the exact current price on your plan before you sign up.
Who is in Sacrifice?
Director Romain Gavras assembled a deep ensemble. Chris Evans headlines as Mike Tyler, a fading Hollywood action star chasing a comeback, and Anya Taylor-Joy plays Joan, who leads the radical group at the center of the story. They are joined by Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, and John Malkovich — three performers who are no strangers to larger-than-life roles, which suits a film built on heightened personalities. Gavras co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Will Arbery.
Who is Romain Gavras?
If the name is new to you, Gavras is a French-Greek filmmaker who built his reputation on provocative, visually explosive music videos — among them M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” and the Jay-Z and Kanye West collaboration “No Church in the Wild.” He moved into features with Our Day Will Come and the 2018 crime drama The World Is Yours, then broke through internationally with Athena, the 2022 Netflix thriller known for its breathless opening long take. Sacrifice is his first English-language feature, and it carries the same appetite for spectacle and social satire.
What is it about?
The premise: a glittering environmental charity gala on a Greek island is hijacked by a doomsday group convinced that a volcanic eruption is about to end the world. To stop it, they believe they must sacrifice three people who embody symbolic roles — the hero, the king, and the lover — and the celebrity guests quickly turn into bargaining chips. It plays as a pitch-black comedy as much as a thriller, using a hostage crisis to skewer celebrity, wealth, and the way the powerful respond to a crisis they cannot buy their way out of.
What to expect
Go in expecting style and bite rather than a tidy thriller. Gavras stages his set pieces like a music video — kinetic, loud, and deliberately uncomfortable — and the script keeps shifting the ground under its characters, so the “villains” and “victims” are rarely who they first appear to be. The remote-island setting, the gala’s performative do-gooding, and a cast of A-listers playing exaggerated versions of fame all feed the satire. If you enjoyed the mean streak of recent eat-the-rich stories, Sacrifice lives in the same neighborhood, just with a bigger budget and a louder voice.
Is Sacrifice based on a true story?
No. For all its ripped-from-the-headlines tone, Sacrifice is an original screenplay by Gavras and Arbery, not a dramatization of real events. Gavras has said he drew on a mix of cultural and mythological traditions to build the cult’s logic, but there is no single real incident behind the plot. The symbolic trio the group fixates on — the hero, the king, the lover — is a storytelling device, not a reference to any documented cult.
Frequently asked
Is Sacrifice on Netflix in the US? Yes, it has been streaming since October 16, 2026.
Do I need to pay extra to watch it? No. It is included with any Netflix subscription.
Who directed it? Romain Gavras, from a script he co-wrote with Will Arbery.
Is it a true story? No — it is an original, fictional screenplay.
Who stars in it? Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy lead, alongside Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, and John Malkovich.
