I had high hopes for this but it really let me down. The Sacrifice is nothing more than a bunch of nonsense that tries too hard to be deep and philosophical.
The Sacrifice is about... well, it's not really about anything, which leads to my main problem with this film. There is no plot at all. The whole movie consists of characters doing monologues, that's it, there's no purpose or meaning to it. They just go around telling monologues. And don't tell me "yOu JuSt DiDn'T uNdErStAnD iT", thats quite wrong since there is nothing to understand here. It's just characters going around and doing monologues. Nothing special happens until like 1 hour and 40 minutes in when he sleeps with the witch. 1 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES IN! The total runtime is like 2 hours and 20 minutes minutes which means nothing happens until there's only 40 minutes left, that is a problem as the paper flat characters wasn't interesting at all. Which leads me to my next issue with this nonsense of a film.
The characters are incredibly flat and forgettable, if you don't have interesting characters that will hurt the movie. Of course the characters can be bland if the plot, writing and other things in the film is good. 2001: A Space Odyssey for example is undoubtedly one of the best films of all time, yet it has bland characters. That's because it does other things well. The Sacrifice however don't have a good plot, because there is no plot, which means the characters can't support this film. Every character is forgettable. They don't have any real personalities, they don't do anything, they don't change, they're just there, and all they do is telling monologues. They all try to be super deep and philosophical but since the dialogue is so forgettable and cliché it doesn't work. It's your usual "society sucks" and "everything is awful" monologues. Nothing special here. The characters also deliver them in a cliché way thus making both them and the monologues so forgettable. The main character Alexander is not interesting at all and when your protagonist is forgettable and bland it's a huge issue. That's the character you will follow throughout the story and if that character is bland the film will feel less interesting to watch. He is however the character I remember the most as he is such a weird character. Weird and forgettable. He and the rest of the characters are just so unrealistic. Who even goes around telling monologues? Like who does that? The witch is also extremely bland. I only remember her a little more than the others because she is a witch. She doesn't do anything special, she's just there and she's a witch, that's it. The rest of the characters are even more forgettable. There's the mailman who doesn't do anything, he doesn't even really have a personality. There's the mother, she's just there, the daughter is also just there, and so is the rest of them. They don't have any personalities either. The son is a little more memorable than the others tho. Mainly because he can't talk throughout the film but then does in the end. There's really no meaning to it. I only remember him a little more because of that.
The acting is ok, but nothing special, the writing is bad, the cinematography is bland. One good thing about this piece of nonsense of a film is the first scene. It's a long take of the main character and his son planting a tree and then walking home and talking to the mailman. The scene is good because the dialogue is actually okay in that scene and because it's a continuous shot. The story the main guy tells is just a little interesting, although I don't even remember most of it. That scene is good but that's about it.
The Sacrifice as a whole is a bunch of nonsense that tries way to hard to be super deep and philosophical, with no plot, forgettable characters, forgettable dialogue and bland cinematography it's a bad film, and a forgettable one that should not be considered a masterpiece at all.
My final rating for this nonsense is 3.7/10
The Sacrifice is about... well, it's not really about anything, which leads to my main problem with this film. There is no plot at all. The whole movie consists of characters doing monologues, that's it, there's no purpose or meaning to it. They just go around telling monologues. And don't tell me "yOu JuSt DiDn'T uNdErStAnD iT", thats quite wrong since there is nothing to understand here. It's just characters going around and doing monologues. Nothing special happens until like 1 hour and 40 minutes in when he sleeps with the witch. 1 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES IN! The total runtime is like 2 hours and 20 minutes minutes which means nothing happens until there's only 40 minutes left, that is a problem as the paper flat characters wasn't interesting at all. Which leads me to my next issue with this nonsense of a film.
The characters are incredibly flat and forgettable, if you don't have interesting characters that will hurt the movie. Of course the characters can be bland if the plot, writing and other things in the film is good. 2001: A Space Odyssey for example is undoubtedly one of the best films of all time, yet it has bland characters. That's because it does other things well. The Sacrifice however don't have a good plot, because there is no plot, which means the characters can't support this film. Every character is forgettable. They don't have any real personalities, they don't do anything, they don't change, they're just there, and all they do is telling monologues. They all try to be super deep and philosophical but since the dialogue is so forgettable and cliché it doesn't work. It's your usual "society sucks" and "everything is awful" monologues. Nothing special here. The characters also deliver them in a cliché way thus making both them and the monologues so forgettable. The main character Alexander is not interesting at all and when your protagonist is forgettable and bland it's a huge issue. That's the character you will follow throughout the story and if that character is bland the film will feel less interesting to watch. He is however the character I remember the most as he is such a weird character. Weird and forgettable. He and the rest of the characters are just so unrealistic. Who even goes around telling monologues? Like who does that? The witch is also extremely bland. I only remember her a little more than the others because she is a witch. She doesn't do anything special, she's just there and she's a witch, that's it. The rest of the characters are even more forgettable. There's the mailman who doesn't do anything, he doesn't even really have a personality. There's the mother, she's just there, the daughter is also just there, and so is the rest of them. They don't have any personalities either. The son is a little more memorable than the others tho. Mainly because he can't talk throughout the film but then does in the end. There's really no meaning to it. I only remember him a little more because of that.
The acting is ok, but nothing special, the writing is bad, the cinematography is bland. One good thing about this piece of nonsense of a film is the first scene. It's a long take of the main character and his son planting a tree and then walking home and talking to the mailman. The scene is good because the dialogue is actually okay in that scene and because it's a continuous shot. The story the main guy tells is just a little interesting, although I don't even remember most of it. That scene is good but that's about it.
The Sacrifice as a whole is a bunch of nonsense that tries way to hard to be super deep and philosophical, with no plot, forgettable characters, forgettable dialogue and bland cinematography it's a bad film, and a forgettable one that should not be considered a masterpiece at all.
My final rating for this nonsense is 3.7/10
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