Many fans of Director Gareth Evans (the Raid action movie series) will be willing to wade through layers of ecological allegory if they are rewarded with equal amounts of violence and gore in the end. Gareth doesn’t disappoints his fans.
Apostle, is a historical religious horror movie about a 19th century cult trying to save a paradise perverted, a supernatural thriller involving monstrous humanity and an enslaved deity, an allegory about our abuse and perversion of the planet we all inhabit, and a violent gore fest that is probably the most squirm inducing movie of 2018. It is both fiendishly supernatural and monstrously natural with a wickedly coherent plot that is so insanely plotted that it can’t help but seem the vision of an unhinged overseer.
Nothing ever seems to be in its proper place. Dan Stevens’ wild eyed and emotional performance disguises the fact that he is suppose to be the logical, civilized member of this inverted universe. Michael Sheen’s cold calculating but obsessive cult leader is just barely able to hold back the insanity that inhabits him and his community. Sanity is clothed in insanity and insanity is corrupted by the logic of the Devil.
Apostle makes you accept or reject its essential contradictions. Accepting it will lead one to discovering one of the better horror films of the year, while rejecting it will make one think it is a mess.
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