Review of Apostle (2018) by Thequietgamer — 06 Dec 2018

Like mother! only the director wasn't trying so hard to offend. On top of the exploration of religion's potential for bringing out the dark side in people, there's a strong message about the raping and manipulation of mother nature. It's also a very graphic movie. Savagely violent and filled with truly disturbing moments. What separates Apostle from the aforementioned Darren Aronofsky film though is that it's nowhere near as repulsive. Despite being similar thematically and in content this simply isn't as vile in delivery. So it's able to maintain an edge and sense of shock value without being as abrasive. Essentially having it's cake and eating it too.

Gareth Evans makes a rather large departure here from the martial arts films that gave him his name. There are a few brief instances of the raw, calculated motion that can be seen in The Raid and its sequel, but one shouldn't start watching this with the expectation of a lot of action. This is a horror film of the slow-burn variety.

Naturally this means that things can kind of move at a snail's pace. There are gruesome moments, glimpses of the supernatural, a whole lot of mystery, and strong character work to hold your attention. So it's never boring, but there are some stretches where nothing all that exciting happens.

It plays out like Black Death with touches of Silent Hill and Saw. You get a masked brute that calls Pyramid Head to mind and rusty torture devices on top of all the cult stuff. It's an odd amalgam of horror styles to be sure, but Evans blends them all together in a way that feels natural.

Not everything plot-wise feels fully fleshed out. Mostly just the little stuff. Like the protagonist's addiction for example. It has no actual impact on anything as he easily kicks it with no problems. We already know he's a messed up guy from the moment he appears onscreen because Dan Stevens is just that good with body language, so it seems like a useless inclusion. The same can be said for most of his backstory actually.

Apostle might not be as seamless as the director's action movies, but it's no less gripping. A dark, violent movie with some beautiful amd surreal imagery. It has a lot to offer. Especially as an easier to swallow version of mother!.

7.