It is the final film from one of the greatest directors ever.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 11 December) is The Sacrifice, the 1986 apocalyptic drama from legendary filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris, Stalker).
The film centres on a wealthy Swedish family celebrating the birthday of their patriarch Alexander (Erland Josephson, Cries and Whispers).
When news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island, however, the happy mood turns to horror.
“For Alexander, a philosopher troubled about man’s lack of spirituality, the prospect of certain extinction compels the ultimate sacrifice, and he enters into a Faustian bargain with God to save his loved ones from the fear which grips them,” the plot synopsis reads.
The final work from a filmmaker widely considered as being one of the greatest ever, The Sacrifice was praised upon release for its cinematgaphy by frequent Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nyquist, as well as its dark emotional story and its intellectual philosophical ideas.
Rarely aired on TV, cinephiles won’t want to miss a chance to check out the acclaimed film.
That said, it’s worth noting that the movie is quite slowly paced, so this is definitely a recommendation more for the arthouse crowd.
The Sacrifice is airing on TV tonight/tomorrow morning on Film4 at 1am.
It is also available to stream on Mubi and should be available to stream on Channel 4’s website after it airs.
Here are the movies airing on TV tonight:
Morbius – Film4 – 9pm
Jared Leto stars in this quite bad superhero film.
Lone Survivor – Legend – 9pm
Mark Wahlberg headlines this tense war thriller set in Afghanistan.
Drive Hard – Legend Xtra – 9pm
In this direct-to-video action buddy flick, a professional thief (John Cusack) takes a former race car driver (Thomas Jane) hostage and forces him to drive his getaway car.
Cop Land – ITV4 – 10pm
Sylvester Stallone delivered his best performance in this hard-hitting crime drama
Jeepers Creepers – Legend Xtra – 10.55pm
In this early 2000s horror, two siblings (Gina Philips and Justin Long) in college are pursued by a demonic serial killer called The Creeper.
Legion – Film4 – 11.05pm
The very fun, cult action movie starring Paul Bettany as an Uzi-carrying archangel Michael.
Momentum – Legend – 11.20pm
Olga Kurylenko and Morgan Freeman headline this 2015 action thriller.
Stan & Ollie – BBC One – 12am
This biographical comedy-drama sees Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly play legendary comedy double act Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Read more:
- A classic Western action movie is airing on TV tonight
- Brendan Gleeson’s documentary about legendary Irish pub is airing on TV
- 28 Years Later first trailer seems to reveal dark fate for Cillian Murphy’s hero
- Netflix has just added one of 2024’s biggest sci-fi thriller movies
- Disney+ has added a new action adventure series with 95% on Rotten Tomatoes
- An under-appreciated Denzel Washington thriller is being rediscovered on Netflix
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