Movie Review: El Sacrificio (The Sacrifice)
Overall, I can describe El Sacrificio as watchable and Serra as a director to keep an eye on. On a hopeful note, if he can improve his character building, myth creation and storytelling to match his eye for good camera work and strong actors, he could easily create something great.
Release Date: July 28, 2022
Director: Alberto Serra
Main Cast: Ana Grethel Solis as Sofia, Isabella Sierra as Carmen, Stella Lauri as Eugenia, Freddy D’Elia as Javier, Nick Romano as Mohan
Runtime: Full length film at 1.5 hours
El Sacrificio begins with a young woman standing at the edge of a river, glancing nervously at a man standing upon the other side. The man, Mohan (Romano), suddenly appears behind the woman and reveals a clawed hand, thus introducing him as the supernatural menace.
The film jumps to the opening scene and title credits set in a modern city, introducing two young sisters as the main characters. Carmen (Sierra), the younger sister, is a pre-teen student who is just beginning her studies in science to ultimately become a veterinarian. She is alone on a street at night and noticed by a man with ill intentions. The tables are quickly turned when a knife wielding Sofia (Solis), the older, later-teens sister, appears from behind and wraps an arm around the man’s neck with her blade pressed to his gut. She foils the potential attack, loots the would-be rapist and establishes the setting that the two sisters are orphans, completely on their own, surviving the streets as best they can.
We are only in the beginning of film, but it is already apparent that the cinematography and the tone are up to snuff. Both the wilderness and cityscape scenes are shot well, convey what they intend to, and the quality is on par with any number of recent major releases.
However, the writing could be better, and we are already faced with small goofs in logic and dialogue.
After the girls make it home and settle in, the first plot turn is introduced. Sofia receives a mysterious late-night call from a woman who claims to be the girls’ grandmother who has finally found the sisters and wants them to visit the family farm. Streetwise Sofia wants to hang up on the call, but Carmen begs her to listen and ultimately accept the invitation.
This is where the writing and plotting truly diverge from the professional visual quality of the film. It’s not an egregious separation, but enough to put into motion a lingering doubt that the film will rise above indie quality. That doubt wavers throughout the rest of the film, moving back and forth from cinematography capturing the viewer’s attention, to clumsy dialogue and awkward plotting pulling it away.
Overall, this is the kind of film that I enjoy when I’m surfing without expectation. If you don’t expect too much of it, you won’t be disappointed, and that holds true until the very end.
The girls arrive to the country town and the farm setup is creepy, as it is intended to be. Eugenia (Lauri), the grandmother, is appropriately unsettling. Javier (D’Elia), the grandfather, is taciturn, as to be expected. The river is quickly revealed to be the off-limits place of danger and the requisite journey to the river introduces clumsy references to witchcraft and depicts a mysterious, factory-like building, neither of which is ever developed. Family strife ensues, clues and logic are sparse, and a coming storm sets us up for the final act.
Performance wise, Sofia is the only character with any real arc. Solis does a lot with the dialogue she is given and is convincing as a street kid turned hero. Sierra does a good job of portraying Carmen who craves a better life and family, but the writing ensures that she never evolves and remains a one-note, sulking target for the vast majority of the film. The same can be said about the writing for Lauri and D’Elia’s roles.
In my opinion, the writing is what keeps this film from becoming what it could have been. I won’t give away the ending, but don’t expect a clever plot twist or any explanations.
These things could have been done better:
1. Static characters who are only given one note to play.
2. Awkward pacing that spends too much time on setup and not enough on payoff.
3. Predictable and, at times, wooden dialogue.
4. Plot points that are never fulfilled or explained and goofs throughout.
5. Halfhearted attempts at symbolism (water, dolls, witchcraft and rites of passage).
6. A completely missed opportunity to define the villain and bring him to the forefront. The grandmother is more threatening than Mohan.
These things make the film watchable:
1. The cinematography really is quite good.
2. The scenery and performances succeed in conveying a tone of dread.
3. The acting is good enough, and each actor succeeds in making their character memorable.
4. For an independent film on a small budget, El Sacrificio does not stumble under the common curse of missing and/or adding terrible CGI and VFX – the film does a very good job without them, although there is one notable spot where a little CGI could have saved a scene, or a different weapon needed to be chosen. My 15-year-old son said it best when he stated “don’t kick in with the metal soundtrack if the chain on the chainsaw isn’t moving…” You’ll have to watch it to understand.
These are things I wish Serra had done:
1. Given the script more thought to smooth dialogue and avoid goofs.
2. Given the characters a few more qualities and quirks to ensure we are not looking at the same person in every scene they appear in.
3. Avoided folk-horror cliché’s such as the “crazy lady” and “silent guy”, an abundance of wood, the ubiquitous girl-in-the-bathtub scene, the omnipresent monster hovering-a-hand over-the-victim’s face scenes, The Storm, creepy old dolls and chainsaws.
And I’m begging…
4. Please take the time to develop the mythology and monster. A solid monster would have made this movie a standout. The description in the movie summary states that the film is “based on leyendas (legends) from all over Latin America” and the presentation of the monster in this film is nearly as vague as the description. We never understand who the Claw Guy is, what he wants or any of the rules surrounding his supernatural world.
I did a bit of research on leyendas and found two that I suspect inspired the director. The first is the Mexican legend of La Isla de las Muñecas which does include drownings and a creepy guy that collects discarded dolls. These images are featured throughout the film with almost no explanation.
There is also the Colombian legend of El Mohan, whom the character in the film must be named after, which describes a man with long hair who resides in caves near rivers. He lures women to him with trinkets and they are never to be seen or heard from again. The character in this film does drown women, but that’s as much explanation as we get.
Serra seems to be working with a combo of these, and possibly other myths but never gives us any clear understanding of his character Mohan, resulting in head-scratching moments and an ending that detracts from the film.
Overall, I can describe El Sacrificio as watchable and Serra as a director to keep an eye on. On a hopeful note, if he can improve his character building, myth creation and storytelling to match his eye for good camera work and strong actors, he could easily create something great.
Miles Boothe
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Miles Boothe is the owner of Emby Press
