Upamanyu Biswas
Jordan Scott’s thriller film ‘A Sacrifice’ follows a social psychologist named Ben Monroe, who gets entangled in the affairs of a dangerous cult while writing an academic book. His investigation takes a dangerous turn after his daughter, Mazzy, comes to live with him in Berlin, Germany. A charming young man, Martin, befriends her at the train station, only for her to drift away from her father as she grows closer to the former. However, unbeknownst to her, he is a member of the same cult investigated by her father. Consequently, Ben has to race against time to save his daughter from the clutches of the group before something terrible happens to her.
The film concludes with many revelations that come to the fore to explain the truth behind the hidden cult members. Meanwhile, Ben has to navigate a trauma from his past and the inciting incident that led to the collapse of his relationship with his wife. To make matters worse, Mazzy loses her trust in him and spends time with Martin and his cult. The protagonist then realizes that he has been led astray by someone he grew close with during the investigation. However, his biggest concern is saving Mazzy from whatever the cult plans to do about her! SPOILERS AHEAD.
A Sacrifice Plot Synopsis
In Berlin, Germany, an enthusiastic researcher of human psychology named Ben Monroe works at a university during the day and moonlights as an investigator of cult practices at night. Having published a popular book on loneliness, he sets his sights on establishing the power of groupthink with his next work. His friend and colleague, Max, involves him in a mass murder-suicide case for him to go beyond his theoretical world to explore the subject of his new book. He meets the lead detective on the case, Nina, and befriends her. Meanwhile, Ben’s personal life turns around as his daughter, Mazzy, arrives in the German city to live with him. They have a strained relationship because of Ben’s divorce from his wife, her mother.
At the train station, Mazzy is assisted by a young man named Martin, who helps her find the right train and destination. Subsequently, the two are drawn closer to one another as she becomes attracted to him. He tells her that he is devoted to a community that believes in ecological harmony and is against overpopulation. The group is led by an enigmatic woman, Hilma, who preaches to the choir about stopping environmental disasters. Her words inspire Mazzy, and she always listens to the former’s propaganda videos. Meanwhile, Ben grows closer to Nina as the two form a clearer relationship. Although she has no control over it, Mazzy fails to tolerate the fling and believes that the trust between the father and daughter is broken.
Angered by Ben’s selfishness and inability to do the right things, Mazzy leaves the house and goes out to a nightclub. Eventually, she is picked up from the place by Martin, who takes her to the cult’s center. The cultists help her get over her intoxication and ask her to follow them in their practices. Although initially drawn to their ideology, she realizes there is something off about the group. She tries to rebel but is forcefully drugged and taken to a lakeside location by Martin. It is the same place a woman from the cult, Lotte, drowned herself by putting stones in her purse. With her death looming on the horizon, Ben embarks on a desperate quest to find her before he is too late. Nina helps him on the journey but seems nervous about something else.
A Sacrifice Ending: What is Hilma’s Plan? Is Nina a Cultist?
The main antagonistic force in ‘A Sacrifice’ is the cult run by Hilma. Although it purports to be driven by conservationist principles, the group is a glorified extremist faction that believes the only way to save the degrading environment is to get rid of the human population through suicide. Ben is drawn to them through his academic work, which exposes how cults exercise their authority over vulnerable people. What he is not prepared for is the group making a conspiracy to infiltrate his own life and turn him and his daughter into followers. That is basically Hilma’s plan. His academic work inspires her and Nina so much that they want him to become part of the group. To do so, Hilma tasks Martin with befriending Mazzy and bringing her into the fold while something similar is prepared for him.
While working on the murder-suicide case, Ben gets close and intimate with Nina, the lead detective. Mazzy disapproves of their relationship and has an argument with him. Not only does he find himself attracted to Nina, but she also acts as his close confidante, allowing him to find solace in her company. Unfortunately, the relationship is fabricated because the officer is a cultist. As the film concludes, it is revealed through a flashback that Nina’s mother was, in fact, the founder of the cult. After she killed herself, the cult’s leadership was handed over to Hilma. Subsequently, Nina continued to serve the group under Hilma’s stewardship, to whom she feels indebted. She works in the police department and gets herself close to Ben, following her leader’s orders.
Therefore, both Ben and Mazzy find themselves manipulated by people they blindly trust. Rather than believing in each other and their family’s unity, the cult drives a rift between them and utilizes it to their advantage by drawing them into the fold. While Mazzy is successfully coerced and forced into doing the cult’s bidding, Ben somehow escapes their beliefs and tries to save his daughter. Owing to her failure to transform Ben into the cult’s member, Nina takes responsibility and tells Hilma that she is prepared to atone for her sins. In the end, Hilma watches the detective and the rest of the group members burn themselves to death, and then she walks out of the community center and escapes from the authorities.
Does Ben Save Mazzy? Why Does She See Lotte in the Lake?
After Mazzy leaves the house, Ben is worried for her safety but decides against pursuing her or forcing her to stay at home. That night, while staying at the house of her friend, Elsa, she goes out to a nightclub where she gets heavily drunk. A guy tries to make a move on her, but she manages to escape with the help of another friend, who takes her to a nearby park and falls asleep next to a building. While she is in this semi-unconscious state, Martin picks Mazzy up and takes her to the cult’s center. At first, she seems receptive to their messages. This soon changes as she starts seeing the strangeness of their actions. By then, it is too late, as she is drugged and taken to a lake, where they expect her to kill herself while being overseen by Martin. Thankfully, Ben shows up at the right time to save her from drowning to death.
The lake where Martin takes her is the same place where Lotte kills herself, and the police officers find her body. It showcases how the cult operates on a day-to-day basis. It infiltrates the minds of vulnerable individuals who are suffering personally and uses their ethical and moral stances to take control over their lives and make them see the world the way Hilma wants them to. Thus, her preachings on ecological conservation are nothing more than a way to make each new member sympathetic to the cause before controlling their individual right to live. The same happens with Mazzy, whose fights with her father lead her to believe he is the enemy. Irrespective of her minor rebellion at the end, the group has managed to get a grip on her because her defenses are down. It all comes to a head at the lake.
When Mazzy wakes up, she sees Lotte in the river, signaling her to step in. In her half-intoxicated, half-delirious state, she feels the crushing loneliness of her life forcing her into the waters. Due to her previous fallout with her father and her distance from her mother, Mazzy feels like her family life is terrible, and so is the world’s reality, which is burdened with ecological travesties. Hence, her fears, insecurities, and concerns manifest themselves as the ghost of Lotte, who pulls her into the river. Thankfully, Ben arrives at the last moment to rescue his daughter. It is his opportunity to atone for his failure to save her when she drowned in the sea as a child. Thus, as he embraces her weak body, a tough chapter in his life finally comes to a close. More than that, he and Mazzy escape the cult’s clutches with their lives.
Is the Cult Still Alive?
While Ben and Mazzy manage to survive the cult’s nefarious plans, the ending of ‘A Sacrifice’ suggests that the group and its leader are not gone for good. For one, Hilma, the supreme authority within the cult, manages to survive and escape the clutches of the police. It’s true that she loses most of the cultists when they burn themselves to death inside the community center. However, it does not mean that it is beyond her capability to restart the organization somehow in some other place once the heat has died down. In particular, the cult’s survival is hinted at in the film’s last moments as Elsa, Mazzy’s friend, watches Hilma’s videos on her laptop, suggesting that she might be the next person to be influenced by the manipulative woman.
Throughout the narrative, Ben and Mazzy get engulfed in the cult’s disturbing methodology but never manage to combat it head-on. The psychologist doesn’t even realize that Nina can be linked to the cult in some capacity. As he is the more learned between the two, he should be the one abreast with the manners in which a coercive group might take over people’s lives. But even he remains in the dark until the very end of the film. At that point, his only thought is confined to saving his daughter and not about taking the cult apart. Ultimately, he completes his task, but during the time it takes him to rescue Mazzy, Hilma hides her tracks and disappears, probably to sow destruction in the future.
Read More: Is A Sacrifice a True Story? Is Hilma Fuchs an Actual Cult Leader?
