Sacrifice

Ben and Max arrive at the suburban house where a cult has methodically killed themselves. Forensics detective Nina explains the method: cyanide pills taken in shifts, seashells found in mouths, and a black smear on the cheeks. Ben texts Mazzy to take the train to his apartment since he will not be able to pick her up himself.

Mazzy asks a man for directions when she loses her way on the way to Berlin. He introduces himself as Martin and says he lives near Ben’s apartment, giving his number in case she needs help. They exchange numbers, beginning a wary, growing connection.

In the days after Mazzy’s arrival, she starts at a local English school and settles into life with her father. Ben continues his research on cults and conducts an interview with a cult member who will only speak to him behind Mazzy’s door. He also collaborates with Max and Nina on the case.

Mazzy and Martin spend time together, sharing coffee and taking mushrooms in the woods. Their budding connection provides Mazzy with companionship but also pulls her deeper into the group’s orbit and the secrets surrounding her father’s work.

Mazzy, Ben, Nina, Max, his wife, and Elsa share a dinner at Max’s house. Mazzy asks Elsa about Nina and learns that she knows Nina only as a colleague, not a romantic rival. The evening hints at shifting loyalties and hidden connections within the group.

Flashbacks reveal Martin’s close bond with his grandmother and his involvement with an environmental group led by Hilma. He starts bringing a girl named Lotte to group meetings, and Martin’s family history explains his current detachment. The group stages therapy, meditation, protests, and personal bonds that will later influence Mazzy.

A girl drowns in a lake with stones in her pockets, but Nina and the police conclude she is not connected to the mass suicide because there is no shell or ash. She and Ben begin spending more time together professionally as the investigation widens. Mazzy is increasingly drawn into Hilma’s circle through Martin’s involvement.

One night, Mazzy wakes to find Ben kissing Nina outside a bar, despite his earlier claim that he wasn’t seeing anyone. She storms off and heads to Elsa’s house, then stops by the group center hoping to find Martin. The revelation shatters her trust and pushes her toward the center’s inner circle.

Mazzy and her friend Larissa attend an underground club where a man pressures Mazzy to dance. Martin intervenes and stabs the man with a broken bottle, then Mazzy and Larissa, intoxicated, end up sleeping in a park. This event deepens Mazzy’s entanglement with the cult’s circles and its violence.

Martin brings Mazzy to the center after finding her in the park. Hilma and the others urge her to let them “help,” and she is taken to an underground chamber for an initiation ritual. She resists, begs to call her father, and is knocked out with chloroform as Hilma orders Martin to take her to the lake.

During the confrontation, Hilma chastises Nina as Martin was chastised earlier, and Nina declares she has always been faithful. Hilma tests her by removing the cyanide pill from Nina’s hand, then the group dons shells and robes and self-immolates in a fiery ritual. The center burns as Hilma leaves the scene.

Mazzy wakes at the lake, drugged and dazed, and wades into the water. Ben arrives with police and dives in to rescue her. Martin and the other cult members die in the confrontation, while Hilma is absent, having left the scene.

The final scene shows Elsa discovering a video of Hilma online and staring entranced at it, mirroring Mazzy’s earlier reaction. The image implies the cult’s reach and the ongoing recruitment beyond Berlin. The movie closes on a note of unresolved danger beneath the surface.