Apostle

The Wicker Man 1905, where one would expect that based on the style and the course of the movie the screenwriter and director would be S. Craig Zahler rather than Evans. Despite many flaws (especially the unjustified length and not used holiday masks), this is a very nice movie, which does not bring much new to the sectarian thrilleroid-horror subgenre, but is so well captured, played out, intense, bizarre and packed with uncompromising atmosphere what we can hardly view as a bad thing. (13/01/2019)

Dan Stevens ventures, with a psycho frown, into a quirky sectarian community on a secret island where his sister has been abducted. The film maintains its atmosphere and pace from the very beginning and becomes more interesting with the arrival of the main protagonist on the island, where the rules of the local population and particularly the special mythology, according to which the community was built on the island, are slowly uncovered. But then the sectarian colony begins to collapse from the inside (unfortunately), the supporting characters begin to come to the forefront, and the story of the main protagonist falls by the wayside. Because of this the film loses steam slightly in the second half, which it tries to save with grateful scenes with a medieval lobotomy and a meat grinder. Except for the juicy gore scenes, there's nothing much reminiscent of Evans's previous films in this historical horror movie. (05/10/2018)

As soon as Evans goes into full horror mode, there’s hardly anything to complain about. Some of the scenes (the preparation of the brain, the meat grinder, the underground tunnels) are among the strongest that the genre has produced this year (and the competition is well above-average). It drags a little, however, when it tries to be more than just straightforward horror, especially with the relationships between the characters and their development. Paradoxically, although the film is a bit too long, I felt that those relationships were insufficiently drawn and their transformations rushed. For instance, in the second half there’s obviously an emotional bond between Thomas and Malcolm's daughter, but I have absolutely no idea where it came from. Nevertheless, Apostle is overall a good period horror film that in an interesting fashion blends the atmosphere of The Witch, Wicker Man the tales of Lovecraft, spicing it up with a pinch of gore. The main character of Dan Stevens also provides a very bizarre atmosphere. Throughout the film he appears to be on drugs, at the edge of madness, or as if someone had hit him on the head and he was about pass out. Dan can add another remarkable genre performance after The Guest. (21/10/2018)

Gareth Evans partly returns to the theme that made him shine with his part in the horror anthology V/H/S/2. Funnily overplaying, Dan Stevens arrives on an island ruled by a sect of dangerous fanatics whose leader is the eccentric Michael Sheen. The hero’s goal there is to find his kidnapped sister. However, things are considerably worse than what he had expected and most of the islanders are facing a catastrophic fate. Although Apostle is more than two hours long, it gets into a brisk pace right from the first minutes, then, without fiddling around, throws us into a thrilling life ’n’ death game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t spare us from some cliché towards the end, where the main villain has to explain all the motives that led him to his crimes. Nevertheless, the flick nicely entertains and its fiery finale is totally worth seeing. What’s more, Apostle boasts an incredible stage set and all outdoor scenes look truly magnificent. Gareth Evans achieved great heights, and I’m definitely not going to miss his next piece of filmmaking. [Sitges 2018] (06/10/2018)

The British movie Apostle proves that the subject of fanatical religious cults is by no means exhausted. Movies like this still have a very strong potential, and you can definitely squeeze some great stuff from their potential. Apostle is a depressing, gritty, and sometimes even brutal movie that also tugs at your heartstrings and pulls it off quite well. (18/12/2020)