The Sacrament is a horror thriller film directed by Ti West. The plot sees two Vice reporters Sam (AJ Bowen), and Jake (Joe Swanberg), tag along with Patrick (Kentucker Audley), to visit his sister Caroline (Amy Seimetz), in a remote commune somewhere in Africa. However, once they’re there they release that it is far from God’s Kingdom on Earth and things quickly turn murdery.
As you all know I go back and forth on Ti West as the director I really like House Of The Devil, but everything else I have seen from him has either left me cold, or I have outright hated. After having a conversation with someone about West they recommended that I watch this film and so I did and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going, but I have mixed feelings about it.
I think doing a found footage version of the Jones Town Mass Suicide is a risky move, even if they did call it something else. This film is apparently inspired by said mass suicide, but in parts it is almost beat for beat the same. This, in my opinion, is a risk that pays off as it adds a real sense of danger and tension to the film and the suicide scene itself stays with you a long time after you have seen it; it is truly haunting.
However, I think the suicide scene does go a little too far, it crosses a bridge of just being shocking for the sake of being shocking and enters into the realm of bad taste. We don’t need to watch a baby getting injected with poison for it to be an impactful scene, all of the people writhing around on the floor in an eerily realistic manor does that job just fine.
I think this is defiantly in the stronger half of West’s filmography for sure, the acting is great all round, there is a keen sense of unease and worry throughout. The drama feels slowly ramped up over the course of the film rather than it just happening near the end, which is one of the main things I don’t like about West’s other work; this film feels like it flows, rather than being in two halves like The Innkeepers.
Overall, I think this is a good effective horror movie, that pushes the boundaries of taste and maybe goes a little too far with it along the way. If you don’t like Eli Roth’s Hostel because of how it presents itself, you won’t like this. Definitely one to watch if you have the stomach for it.
Pros.
Good acting.
It flows well.
The sense of drama and danger.
The ending.
Cons.
The ending.
It goes too far.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 