Famed Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky‘s final masterpiece, The Sacrifice is a haunting vision of a world threatened with nuclear annihilation that inspired Andrew Sarris (The Village Voice) to proclaim, “You may find yourself moved as you have never been moved before.” As a wealthy Swedish family celebrates the birthday of their patriarch Alexander (Erland Josephson, Cries and Whispers), news of the outbreak of World War III reaches their remote Baltic island — and the happy mood turns to horror. The family descends into a state of psychological devastation, brilliantly evoked by Tarkovsky’s arresting palette of luminous greys washing over the bleak landscape around their home. (The film’s masterful cinematography is by Sven Nykvist, Ingmar Bergman’s longtime collaborator). 

Digitally restored in 4K by the Swedish Film Institute