APEX (2026): Review

Disco Occasionally, Swim All The Time

★★½

Apex is Netflix's new cat-and-mouse thriller starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, as they fight their way through the wilderness with Sasha (Theron) as prey in Ben's (Egerton) sadistic game. It initially seems as though Ben is hunting Sasha for sport, but the haunting truth behind his obsession is perhaps far worse, as it is revealed he captures and eats people in what is described as a way to honour them (Hannibal mention).

This concept has been seen many a time before. I am personally always a fan of a good cat-and-mouse chase, the thrill and the stakes. I also love to see actors get 'ugly', and I don't mean in the physical sense, I mean I really respect when they throw themselves into the (literal) dirt of the role; get feral, and I think both Egerton and Theron did this exceptionally - in fact I recall a recent interview with Taron Egerton where he stated he's making conscious efforts to take roles that make people think "wait, he's really doing that?", and this is certainly one of them. I'd say his performance is a stand-out of this movie... aside from the questionable accent work which I recognise they tried to explain away (but when you make a Welsh man with an English accent play an Australian what do you expect), and he really does get into the grit of it, and seem to have some fun!

What was frustrating about Apex, however, was that Ben seemed to know where Sasha was at all times, without any explanation as to why. Not only this, but in the vast jungle, through which it felt they had travelled hundreds of miles, Ben would just show up, right on Sasha's tail, true Michael Myers style. I wasn't aware teleportation was part of this universe? It's hard to suspend disbelief when our heroin has fallen through rapids, waterfalls, down verges and up trees only for him to appear two seconds away every time. This repetitiveness of them writhing about in the water was also a pitfall of the movie. Climb, fall, swim, repeat, for a sizable chunk of it's runtime, with no differing results.

The film took a turn when it became clear to Sasha that Ben had had a troubled life (classic) and she decided to use this to her advantage, convincing him to spare her if he 'loved' her like he says he loves his victims. This gets through to him, but is short lived, and the chase begins again. That is, until they unexplainably call a truce once Sasha manages to injure Ben, and suddenly they decide to 'work together' to scale the cliff out of there. This is a call back to the beginning of the movie when Sasha loses her partner after she has to cut him loose to save herself from falling down a mountain - something we've again seen different variations of countless times. I understand that Sasha and Ben were tethered together, and this is why she could not let him go, but she also had plenty of opportunities to kill her captor and detach herself from him. This is something that frustrates me in thrillers and horrors to no end. When the mouse has the perfect chance to 'kill' the cat and make sure they're dead, but do not, for... plot reasons? Something the Scream franchise loves to point out: shoot them in the head! Or in this case, use that big rock, leave him underwater, ANYTHING.

Overall, I don't think there is much substance to the film, and it seems to jump from plot point to plot point without much explanation. Apex is an easy watch, and it's exciting to see these actors in roles like these, so don't shy away from putting it on for some cosy(?) Sunday afternoon viewing. Your expectations of a Netflix movie like this will be... met.