Apostle
Apostle blends atmospheric storytelling with grisly brutality to mixed results, but makes for an effectively nasty (and bizarre) horror movie overall.
After attain his name with the furor success of his extremist - violentThe Raidmovies , film producer Gareth Evans turn back with the equally gruesome historical horror action - thriller , Apostle . The Netflix Original is headlined by Dan Stevens , who himself is far from a alien to collaborating with cult directors on this kind of twisted literary genre - blending stuff ( see also : his work on Adam Wingard’sThe Guest ) . While Evans and Stevens fall short of fully realizing their joint originative ambitions here , the last result is nevertheless a really unique piece of genre movie theater that could easily go on to garner a faithful pursuit of its own . Apostleblends atmospheric storytelling with grisly brutality to mixed results , but progress to for an effectively nasty ( and eccentric ) horror movie overall .
Set in the UK circa 1905,Apostlestars Stevens as Thomas Richardson , the disgraced boy of a moneyed family who is called upon when his babe Jennifer ( Elen Rhys ) is abduct and keep back for ransom money by a inscrutable spiritual cult that lodge in on a distant island . Thomas thus sets out to rescue his sister by infiltrate the island ’s commune - under the guise of being a new summation - and quietly settling in among their ranks , in the hopes of learning where Jennifer is being kept . By doing so , Thomas further come after in befriend several members of the cult , include their leader , the self - declare Prophet Malcolm ( Michael Sheen ) , and his daughter Andrea ( Lucy Boynton ) .
However , the more that Thomas uncovers about the fad , the more he occur to realize that their little community is on the verge of collapsing … and that their leaders , include co - founder Quinn ( Mark Lewis Jones ) and Frank ( Paul Higgins ) , are hiding some pretty big secrets . The situation becomes all the more grave for Thomas once Malcom and his other paterfamilias deduce that there is someone hiding in their residential area who wants to encounter and deliver Jennifer . As the truth about everything gradually begins to seep out , Thomas is not only pressure to confront his moody past , but give an unexpected chance to regain his faith and assay salvation .
Both written and direct by Evans , Apostleplays out as something of a dense - burn mark horror - thriller that ’s more focused on build apprehensiveness than deport jolt of terror during its first two enactment ( we ’ll get to the third act later ) . While there are shades of films likeThe Wicker ManandThe Witchin the movie ’s premise and inhibitory patriarchal full point scene , severally , Evans further commixture in moments of action at law that are reminiscent ofThe Raidfranchise and a style of weirdness that bring to beware Stevens ' own previous genre workplace ( including , his current function in FX’sLegionTV series ) . As a whole , this peculiar cocktail of ingredients succeeds in mother latent hostility and leaving those look out at home to question justhowstrange things are finally going to get , before the film ’s narration resolve itself .
Apostleis fueled in its movement to bring forth a maturate sense of uneasiness by Stevens ' twitchy performance as Thomas , a character who ( as someone else note at one tip ) had clearlyseensome matter , even before he landed in his current mess - up predicament . While the plastic film discover the unsettling truth about its ever anxious booster and his backstory in due clock time , it ’s Stevens who really sells the whole thing and draw Thomas ' battle to avoid buckle under to his demons ( which , as the movie show , let in drug addiction ) feel veritable and graphic . In many way , Apostlewinds up being a showcase for Stevens ' screen presence and serves to illustrate why he ’s considered a ( more or less under - appreciated ) terrific role actor in his own right these Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
That being the grammatical case , the other mold member inApostleare give few opportunity to shine and are often sideline to make way for Stevens . Still , the cinema does take the time to set up need for its various supporting players and lay the groundwork for their larger arcs - enough so that , when thing hit the fan , charactersmostlybehave in a manner that makes signified , reach what we already have sex about them . Sheen , Boynton , and Jones are similarly good in their use here , especially asApostlereveals more and more about their reference ' true natures over the course of the level . Rhys is alas sting playing a stock damsel in distress for much of the film , but also make the most of her scenes here . The same goes for Bill Milner and Kristine Froseth in a smaller ( but important ) subplot involving two unseasoned lovers in the commune .
All of that being tell , Apostle ’s third bit is where the film will credibly either misplace viewer completely or finally pitch the disturbing blood bath that they ’ve spent the rest of the picture eagerly waiting for . Evans set up his acquisition as an action film producer to specially strong use during this part of the chronicle and surrender several precisely executed sequence that are equal parts nail-biting , thrill and ( of course ) grotesque , help in part by his own redaction and the terse photography by his trusted displaced person Matt Flannery . Downside is , by doing so , Apostlemostly give up on enriching the bigger themes and conception premise during its first two - thirds , in favor of a strip - down and graphical ( yet relatively vacuous ) climax . It ’s a shame too since the third act insert a cagy plot wrench that , with additional evolution , could have elevated the film into being a really nifty horror - thriller .
Despite its trip-up , though , Apostle(on the whole ) make for a unforgettably unconventional cross between a geological period horror drama and a grisly modern action - thriller . It likewise makes for another interesting oddball of an addition to Stevens ' greater aggregation of non - mainstream genre task and should , for the most part , please those who are fans of his previous work in that arena . Because the motion picture itself is something of a straight pin , it in all probability would n’t have made much horse sense for a major studio to pick it up for either a wide-cut theatrical release or a modified rollout on the arthouse scene - making Netflix the idealistic position for it to call home plate , in that sense . That way of life , anyone who ’s concerned in watching " The Witchby way ofThe foray " this Halloween time of year will be able-bodied to do so from the quilt of their own home .
TRAILER
Apostleis now available for cyclosis on Netflix . It is 129 minutes long and is rated TV - MA .
In the year 1905 , a man jaunt to a remote island to rescue his sister , who ’s been snatch by a religious cult . Netflix pick up the film in March 2017 , about a month before production began . It had its populace premiere at the 2018 Fantastic Fest .
In the year 1905, a man travels to a remote island to rescue his sister, who’s been kidnapped by a religious cult. Netflix picked up the film in March 2017, about a month before production began. It had its world premiere at the 2018 Fantastic Fest.
