A teenage girl visiting her father in Berlin is unwittingly targeted by a cult that’s also secretly manipulating him in the new film, A Sacrifice. The movie stars Eric Bana as Ben, a famed author and psychological profiler investigating a bizarre series of ritualistic suicides. Sadie Sink co-stars as Mazzy, his rebellious daughter who’s furious at being ignored while he’s consumed by the mystery. They both miss warning signs and become ensnared in a sinister plot with horrific consequences.

A tense argument in the film has Mazzy questioning if her father’s really paying attention or cares about her. It’s a hurtful comment, but does have legitimacy given what happens. Bana believes his character “loves his daughter to death” but he’s also “vulnerable” and in need of “love himself.” Sink gives her character more latitude because she’s duped and exploited when she meets “a boy in an everyday situation” that’s “what you see play out in every romantic comedy.” We spoke with Eric Bana and Sadie Sink about A Sacrifice and the lure of cults for everyday people, and Sink teases Max Mayfield’s fate in the hotly anticipated upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things.

Eric Bana on the Difficulties of Parenting in A Sacrifice
A Sacrifice (2024) Inspired by Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel Tokyo Nobody, A Sacrifice follows American social psychologist Ben Monroe (Eric Bana) who is investigating a local Berlin cult connected to disturbing events. While he immerses himself in his work, his rebellious teenage daughter, Mazzy (Sadie Sink), becomes embroiled with a mysterious local boy who introduces her to the city’s underground party scene. As their two worlds head toward a dangerous intersection, Ben will need to race against the clock in order to save his daughter.Release Date June 28, 2024 Director Jordan Scott Cast Sylvia Hoeks , Sadie Sink , Eric Bana , Jonas Dassler , Stephan Kampwirth , Sophie Rois , Lara Feith , Alexander Schubert Runtime 1h 34m Writers Nicholas Hogg , Jordan Scott Distributor(s) Vertical Expand

MovieWeb: I’m going to ask a hard question first because your character, Mazzy, brings it up. Is Ben a bad dad? Should Ben have been more present to stop all this stuff from going down?

Sadie Sink: I’m going to let Eric take that one actually (laughs).

Eric Bana: I think he’s a good dad. Look, he loves his daughter to death. But he’s like everyone else, you know, he’s vulnerable. I think his blindside here is his own kind of need for love himself. That’s what kind of [happens]. It does end up being a bit of a blind spot for him when he meets Sylvia [Hoeks’] character. So, yeah, Nina gets the better of him and allows things to happen.

MW: Conversely, Sadie, as a young woman in the film, you’re on a train, and you meet a random dude. Should Mazzy have been more skeptical about hanging out with that guy?

Sadie Sink: Maybe a little bit. I think at a certain point the eyebrows should have been raised. But in the beginning, I think that’s kind of like the dream scenario, at least for a young girl — to meet a boy in such an everyday situation. That’s kind of what you see play out in every romantic comedy. So you can understand why something like that would happen, and it would feel like, ‘Oh my god, I’m the luckiest person ever. I’m just now getting to Berlin, and I meet this cute guy on the train.’ It’s already like a movie or something like that. So, yeah, I think at a certain point you start to ask more questions. But in the beginning, I think anyone would be kind of thrilled for that.

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The Need for Validation

MW: Cults are still a very real thing. Look at NXIVM [Nexium], and what happened to the girls at Barnard College, who had friends and families but were lured into these cults. Why are people so drawn to these bad organizations?

Sadie Sink: It’s a case by case situation, but I think what I learned from my research for this is that it really can be anyone. You kind of have this idea when you think of cults and the people that become involved in them, that they’re super naive and vulnerable. And while that could be true, I think it could happen to just anyone, depending on what you’re getting into. For something like this, it was promoted as this kind of mission to help the planet, and that we were all doing something really, really good, and it looked like it too. So I think it’s easier than people would think. And maybe when it takes that dark turn, it happens so suddenly that you can’t even suspect something at first. But it does depend on the case.

Eric Bana: Yeah, and I think so much is kind of hardwired into the structures of a cult. In terms of, we do respond to a hierarchy and a structure as human beings. We like a sense of order, even if you’re a person who has rejected society’s structure, and then suddenly found themselves in a cult. [There] does seem to be some consistencies there. There’s that requirement that we have as human beings to just be part of something. Part of something bigger than us, or to feel loved, to feel wanted and validated, which these cults can do very, very well.

Related Sadie Sink Got to Keep Life-Saving Prop from Stranger Things 4 The actor who plays Max in the Netflix series Stranger Things says she “politely begged” to take home one special prop from season 4.

Sadie Sink on Stranger Things Season 5

MW: Sadie, I know you probably can’t reveal much, but is Max [Mayfield] at least standing on her two feet in the new season of Stranger Things?

Sadie Sink: I mean, you saw how it ended in season four, so I cannot answer that. But it would be a miracle if she did so. And miracles have happened on the show, so I guess we’ll have to see (laughs).

A Sacrifice will be released theatrically on June 28th from Vertical. You can watch a clip from the film below: