Apostle (2018)

When watching Apostle, I get the same feeling as with some other bad movies in recent years. A lot is just right; there are really interesting and good ideas in the material, and most actors are okay, music quite good, and the visuals are great. But the direction and editing of the film just kills it. I think this is the basic incorrect assumption that moves the director in this case: the audience will totally buy anything that happens if it fits within the stereotypical narrative I signal at the start of the movie. A cultish and isolated community = brave but haunted individualists fight against weak but cynical communitarians that always become too dogmatic for their own good. If the film narrative is kept within those parameters, the audiences will totally buy everything. But that assumption is wrong. We, the audience, are capable of noticing when characters act out of character (happens a lot here), when people suddenly seem to have dressed up in black sacrifice clothes in seconds, or people change their opinions of each other between two scenes. Lesson learned: don't adapt everything to a stupid, stereotypical narrative. Instead, adapt the narrative to great ideas and interesting characters. I know it's hard, but that's what they pay you for! Anyway, I mourn the really interesting idea at the bottom of this train wreck of a film, as well as the great photography.

Fmovies: Overly long, feels like it runs for 4 hours, although it's only 2, and sadly lacking in a plot - or point. It looks great, grimy and 'authentic', but authentically what? It felt like it didn't know what period it was, or even what country it was in. Western frontier houses in what looked like Wales, with WW1 costumes with what looked like Regency guns. But worse than all of this was Dan Stevens lead character. I don't know what the had been told to emote, but all we got was 'addict-having breakdown' combined with what was supposed to be, I assume, 'distraught black sheep desperate to find girl'. Instead he just looked cross and pouty all the time, constantly gurning and giving sidelong glances. He was meant to be 'hidden' but spent so much time looking shifty and furtive he more or less had a sign above him. Then there was the 'earth spirit', for want of a better word for her. She was evil - or maybe not. She didn't want to eat, yet sucked down blood like she was starving. She was tied up but spent all the time somehow wandering about the woods, taking strolls or just popping up randomly. And the leaders were religious, or maybe not. Maybe communists, or radicals, or maybe just a branch of the Rotarians. Who knows - they certainly didn't.

Muddled, sullen, unentertaining and incoherent. Not surreal or weird, just incoherent. Dreadful.

I thought Apostle was a great period piece,i was reading some the negative reviews about this movie.I don't know what the hell some of these reviewers were watching or talking about but it sure as hell was'nt the movie that i was watching.This movie was very well made ,the acting was first rate. The story was great kept my attention folks should definetly give this a look see.

Apostle fmovies. Great visuals, creepy atmosphere, however the story steadily loses its grip and devolves into sillyness.

Gareth Evans, most famously known for his films in "The Raid" franchise, has crafted an enchanting and thrilling potential cult classic surrounding a mysterious religious cult within a period horror story. With an atmosphere reminiscent of the famous Scottish film "The Wicker Man" (1973), perhaps even similar to 2015's "The Witch" to a certain extent, what Evans came up with is a tale of violence, revenge and hatefulnes, a tale in which love is punished and has no future. It's incredibly violent and nothing for those who can't bear the sight of blood and pain, but beneath the violence which is so indispensably linked to the core of the story, there is also a well-constructed plot filled with memorable characters. In so many horror films, you will have a memorable story, but weak characters you can't connect with, whereas with "Apostle", it's impossible not to get attached to most of these characters, or at the very least to feel interested in their ultimate fate.

Evans delves deep into personalities of his characters and confronts them with morally significant questions, in the process also benefiting from the strong cast he was able to assemble. Dan Stevens is a good actor, albeit with a limited acting range, but in "Apostle", he manages to get back to the roots of what made the 2014 film "The Guest" so great. In terms of going absolutely crazy, Dan Stevens' performance could even be compared to Nicolas Cage' acting in "Mandy", another potential cult thriller released just a few weeks ago. He was the perfect choice for the character of Thomas Richardson, and so was Michael Sheen for the prophet's role. Bill Milner, a rising British star who I think has a very interesting future in the business ahead of him, Mark Lewis Jones and Kristine Froseth add to a number of haunting supporting performances. In the end, "Apostle" is probably about twenty minutes too long; its material is not deep enough to justify a runtime of 130 minutes, and on the other hand, there are a few scenes which could have been cut for the purpose of making the film more fast-paced. However, that's something I didn't have much of an issue with, as I personally enjoyed the film tremendously from beginning to end. Not everyone is going to like it, perhaps due to the runtime, perhaps due to the violence, but even aside from my personal opinion, this film is well-directed and well-acted, the cinematography is superb and the plot just keeps getting more intense, more engaging, more and more thrilling after a slow, yet harrowing beginning. Reactions to this film are probably going to be divided, but I hope "Apostle" will nevertheless get the audience it deserves, as it is, in my humble opinion, on par with the best horror films of 2018.

Apostle is another Netflix original, a collaboration between UK and US production companies and is certainly a memorable tale.

It tells the story of a man who visits a secluded island housed by a mysterious cult that have kidnapped his sister. But beneath the visage is something even more sinister than he could have possibly imagined.

It comes under the horror genre, I question that. Is it really? Thriller seems to suit it better.

Starring Michael Sheen in a truly excellent performance by him this grisly, dark, moody little film really got my attention early on but by about half way it seemed to have lost its way. Like the writer had a good idea but didn't know how to follow through with it.

I'm not saying Apostle is a bad movie, it has some great themes and looks great but from an entertainment perspective it finds itself somewhat lacking. I'm not a person who needs everything spelling out for him, I don't mind things being left open to interpretation but there is a fine line between that and just leaving things a tad too open.

Apostle is a watchable effort with some nice ideas but as for what they were actually aiming for I think it's a swing and a miss. Shame.

The Good:

Looks the part

Michael Sheen

A few decent ideas

The Bad:

Doesn't really come together very well

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Concerningly that lifestyle (Minus the religion) oddly appeals to me

Christian torture devices are the stuff of nightmares