YMMV / A Certain Sacrifice

• Angst? What Angst?: After briefly shutting down for a time after her rape, Bruna becomes vengeful and gleefully participates in the kidnapping and murder of Raymond Hall. When the film ends, she's shown laughing and running through a park with Dashiel.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The film was only talked about at release because it featured Madonna's first film role — one in which she ends up topless and being pawed at by a trio of "love slaves" she oversees as a Dominatrix.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Dashiel's attempted Motive Rant against Hall isn't actually said to him, but rather, to a mannequin made to look like him. (Hall is Bound and Gagged in an adjoining room.) Moreover, the rant has Dashiel pointlessly running through racial stereotypes, while he's dressed like Che Guevara, for no reason other than shock value. It has nothing to do with the plot, the film cuts to an unrelated scene moments later, and the incident is never remarked on again.
• Bile Fascination: Despite the fact that the film was raked over the coals at release for being a largely-pointless art film that would have never seen the light of day were it not for Madonna's involvement, there exists a certain subset of viewers who appreciate the look at New York City towards the end of The '70s, Madonna's performance (which is excused by the fact that it's her first film role) and the general bizarreness of the whole production.
• Critic-Proof: Despite being trashed by critics at release for being cheap and exploitative, the film apparently turned a major profit off its $20,000 (plus re-editing and lawsuit costs) budget. Lewicki would later state in press interviews that he became a millionaire off the back of the film, which received a New York premiere, had an international release and sold more than 50,000 video units in its first week.
• Designated Hero: The only reason why Dashiel might be considered the "hero" is because he eventually stops a rapist, in the form of Raymond Hall. That said, the rest of the film shows him to be an unrepentent rebel who repeatedly antagonizes people, is dismissive of authority, goes out of his way to be a Jerkass to just about everyone he meets, and is revealed by the end to be a practicing Satanist.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: As noted by one review of the film, the sequence where a young David argues with his family before fleeing home for New York City sounds remarkably similar to Eddie Adams' argument with his mother in Boogie Nights, right down to suspiciously-similar dialogue. The reviewer noted that it's possible that Paul Thomas Anderson was inspired by the sequence in this movie.
• Just Here for Godzilla: The only reason the film became an underground hit is due to the fact that it was marketed as being Madonna's feature film debut, filmed before Desperately Seeking Susan.
• Narm: Part of the Bile Fascination is seeing how serious moments are ruined by dodgy acting, bizarre plotting or both in tandem.
  • The sequence where Dashiel meets Bruna has them fighting over a gun in the midst of a public fountain. Besides the fact that a crowd of onlookers are staring at the duo in the background, Bruna at one point takes the gun from Dashiel and points it at him... while acting like a little girl who's getting too carried away.
  • The climactic "sacrifice" scene is a howler of a sequence, despite the fact that the characters have organized a Satanic ritual. The lyrics to the song are more likely to inspire derision than fear, the backing beat comes across as far more lighthearted than it should be, and the sequence goes on so long that the repeated cuts back to the tied-up Hall (who's Bound and Gagged) make it look like he's bored with the whole exercise.
• Nausea Fuel: After murdering Hall, Dashiel pours a large amount of the latter's blood into a giant chalice, which he smears on several of the participants. He then smears blood on Bruna, who's in bed and wearing a negligee and little else. This scene is portrayed as romantic.
• Nightmare Retardant: The concept of a Satanic cult abducting and murdering a resident in retaliation for the rape of the lead female character, in an abandoned theater under the Brooklyn Bridge as he pleads for release, is prime material for pure Nightmare Fuel. Unfortunately, the comical way the scene is shot and directed (Dashiel and Bruna dance outside the theater as she imagines rain pouring down on her), and the hilarious "sacrifice song" that has a beat more at home on Sesame Street, with lyrics like, "We will drink the blood that flows / from his head down to his toes," is more likely to inspire howling laughter than fear.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: These days, the film is better known for being Madonna's acting debut (in a role that sees her topless, being pawed at by a trio of "love slaves", and eventually dealing with the fallout from a rape), and her subsequent attempt to keep it from being distributed publicly, than anything to do with the film's content itself.
• Poor Man's Substitute: A Madonna sound-alike (Nancy Lefleur) provides several songs for the soundtrack, including "Trust Game" and the end credit theme "Wave Bye Bye".
• Retroactive Recognition: The film owes its theatrical release to this trope. It likely never would have been released properly, were it not for the fact that its lead actress went on to become the biggest pop star in the world. As such, the post and DVD releases of the film market it with Madonna's image on the front cover.
• Special Effect Failure: It becomes obvious at a first glance that the handgun Dashiel wields is just a water gun, as evidenced by the white trigger and pull-tab for the water reservoir. This makes the sequence of Dashiel "dramatically" wrestling with Bruna over control of the gun at the fountain far less impactful.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Both critics and viewers have pointed out that despite the amateurish plot and cinematography, Madonna actually seems to be taking the material seriously (especially considering she lobbied to get the role in the first place). The closest the film gets to an emotional gutpunch is via her portrayal of an assault victim, who's completely traumatized by the experience and shuts down emotionally for a time.
• Uncertain Audience: The film occupies a very weird place in Madonna's filmography. It was Overshadowed by Controversy by media outlets labeling it as a "porn" film, though such instances are near-to-nonexistent in the final product. According to the director, it's a cross between New Wave and post-punk, but it leans far too heavy into both musical and thriller tropes (yes, in the same film) to reliably fit into either category. Even for fans of Madonna's films, she only appears intermittently, and much of her dialogue is drowned out due to the inconsistent sound design. Even the filming and editing style is at odds with the material, as it bears the mark of being worked on and re-edited years after shooting, making it abundantly clear that the material was stitched together with whatever takes the director had.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Dashiel's landlord, who ousts him from the apartment complex he's staying at as part of Hall's campaign of revenge against him. The fact that Dashiel is later revealed to be an avowed Satanist who ends up sacrificing Hall in the climax means his landlord's fears over what he was doing in his apartment were more-than-likely justified.

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