Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Derren Brown: Sacrifice

  • TV Special
  • 20182018
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 49m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
44,418
2,746
Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Sacrifice (2018)
Illusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a stranger.
Play trailer1:25
1 Video
3 Photos
Reality-TV
Illusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a strangerIllusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a strangerIllusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a stranger
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
44,418
2,746
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Writers
      • Derren Brown
      • Stephen Long
      • Andrew O'Connor
    • Stars
      • Derren Brown
      • Megan Affonso
      • Bob Cable
    Top credits
    • Writers
      • Derren Brown
      • Stephen Long
      • Andrew O'Connor
    • Stars
      • Derren Brown
      • Megan Affonso
      • Bob Cable
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:25
    Official Trailer

    Photos

    Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Sacrifice (2018)
    Derren Brown in Derren Brown: Sacrifice (2018)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Derren Brown
    Derren Brown
    • Self
    Megan Affonso
    • Scientist
    Bob Cable
    Christopher Crabinha
    Carlos Flores
    • Illegal immigrant
    Woody Gebhart
    Jesse Guajardo
    Sid Hultquist
    Clay McDonald
    Rick Murray
    John J. Pistone
    John J. Pistone
    • Biker John
    Jason Rupe
    Gil Sancier
    Andrew Stalnaher
    Kelly Stine
    Pablo Emilio Valdes
    Danielle St Vil
    Carl Wackan
    • Self
    • Writers
      • Derren Brown
      • Stephen Long
      • Andrew O'Connor
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge
    7.5
    Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge
    Derren Brown: Miracle
    6.5
    Derren Brown: Miracle
    Derren Brown: Apocalypse
    7.9
    Derren Brown: Apocalypse
    Derren Brown: The Experiments
    8.4
    Derren Brown: The Experiments
    Derren Brown: The Heist
    8.3
    Derren Brown: The Heist
    Derren Brown: Fear and Faith
    7.8
    Derren Brown: Fear and Faith
    Derren Brown: Trick or Treat
    8.6
    Derren Brown: Trick or Treat
    Derren Brown: Hero at 30,000 Feet
    7.8
    Derren Brown: Hero at 30,000 Feet
    Derren Brown: Trick of the Mind
    8.7
    Derren Brown: Trick of the Mind
    Svengali
    8.1
    Svengali
    Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery
    7.6
    Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery
    Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale
    7.8
    Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Phil was shown the special before it aired on Netflix, and according to Derren Brown, "he loved it." [Metro US]

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    4/10
    Good entertainment, but infuriatingly invalid
    I feel like Derren just likes coming across as a devilish manipulator. Sometimes he likes making people do bad things (rob an armored money carrier, assassinate someone, push someone off a building) other times like this he makes people do something heroic (save a falling aeroplane, survive an apocalypse).

    Regardless, he'll give it some positive pithy spin in terms of how we can all be better people blah blah blah, and not resist giving wry little edited-in smirks while nasty things are happening. Oh Derren you devil you!

    The problem here is in the concept of 'making' someone do something. There's a bizarre conflict in telling the person they did it all by themselves, are a hero etc, while implying throughout the whole show that actually no - it was Derren that made them do it using all his 'clever' manipulation.

    Sacrifice was like a reversal of Heist - using a bunch of empowering techniques (misdirected as NLPish embedded commands, anchoring and whatnot, but who really knows what goes on behind the scenes, I'm sure some strong hypnotic suggestibility and dual-reality helps enormously with the results), and little jingles to push a particular action. The whole point of his methods is how easily people can be influenced and manipulated, so leaves us none the wiser as to what a person would 'really' do in the circumstances - so its all pretty irrelevant.

    By the time he's using it as some symbol of how 'whats possible when he step outside of narrow narratives we tell ourselves' I just cringe. Its no more inspiring or educational than a lame Facebook picture quote. Make your mind up Derren - do people really have a 'choice' or are we all influenced by one agenda, cause, trigger, stimuli, narrative after another? Find me a racist bigot who 'chooses' to take a bullet of his own free will to save the target of his racism, without all the grooming/suggestion/empowering/obvious-tv-expectations/manipulation and I'll be inspired.

    By the way - how could the guy in the car, after hearing the often-played jingle play TWICE in a row, NOT realize the scene is part of the TV show? Of course he would, part of him would absolutely know its all part of an elaborate role-play linked to what's happened before, so he's going to act according to expectations. Its all a bit contrived and nonsensical, but still enjoyable as entertainment.
    helpful•16
    19
    • rabbitmoon
    • Oct 29, 2018

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 19, 2018 (Argentina)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Mojave desert, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Vaudeville Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      49 minutes

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    New & Upcoming Superhero Movies and Series
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.