Romain Gavras discusses Netflix film Sacrifice and its production

Inside the Surreal World of Charity Galas

“I’ve had almost every time I walk into an award ceremony, the fakeness was just pure madness and pure virtue signaling,” director Romain Gavras said, describing the origins of his new feature film Sacrifice, which is currently streaming on Netflix more than a year after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Gavras noted that he was not trying to lampoon charity events as a whole, recalling instead an event in London where the extreme lack of authenticity felt too surreal for fiction. Rather than relying on traditional studio formulas, the filmmaker drew on childhood fairy tales told by his father, the Z director Costa-Gavras, which featured grand stories of moms eating their kids and people getting thrown in volcanoes. To shape the narrative of an environmentally minded terrorist, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who hijacks a fundraiser filled with doofuses, Gavras collaborated with playwright and Succession writer Will Arbery. The resulting script pairs a performative vanity gala with an extremist group holding strong, faith-based beliefs.

Filming on Location in Bulgaria and Greece

Production took the cast and crew to demanding real locations, including a river in Bulgaria and a half-active volcano, utilizing environments that contrasted sharply with standard green-screen work. The film features Chris Evans as an action star and Vincent Cassel as a Musk-like tech mogul, with Evans playing a parallel universe version of himself – an action star unable to process the tragedy in his personal life.

Luxury Backing from Gucci

One of the more unusual elements of the production sits right in the opening credits, where the luxury brand Gucci is listed as one of the film’s co-producers. Gavras explained that Gucci read and liked the script, offering financial support to cover production costs despite the film’s pointed satire of ultra-wealthy lifestyles. Rather than taking on a major studio project or directing a superhero movie following his work on the Netflix action film Athena, Gavras chose to channel his industry capital into making an unconventional independent feature.

Overcoming International Distribution Hurdles

That independent structure also created distribution hurdles. Gavras pointed out that pre-selling territories and negotiating agreements between multiple international buyers and a domestic streamer created a complex puzzle. Netflix ultimately secured streaming for the film, following previous works like Athena and The World Is Yours.