Apostle is a 2018 horror/mystery about a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister who tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.
There’s a deeply sinister darkness about Gareth Evans‘ latest chiller Apostle, that right from the start sets a tone that is unnerving yet almost breathlessly compelling. This from a director who is no stranger to such themes, his ultra violent Raid films paving a path from those action-heavy titles to this carnage of a different set. It’s a gruesome slow grind to a meatgrinder of terror, however this is not your typical blood faring horror film, it instead a harrowingly challenging experience that expects a little more from its audience.
Beginning with a brief voiceover, that of a young woman named Jennifer (Elen Rhys), we learn she has been kidnapped by a religious cult on a small isolated island, seeking to use her ransom to fund their growing farming needs. Into this fray comes her brother Thomas (Dan Stevens), a former missionary who stealthily infiltrates the people to seek her out, confirm her safety and work his way to the group’s leader Malcolm (Michael Sheen). Malcolm holds a tenuous grip on the land, one where crops are failing and hope seems lost, his dystopia crumbling, resting his salvation in the money he hopes to get from Jennifer. However, Thomas soon learns that there is a terrible darkness looming over this island and finds himself spiraling into the abyss as things get entirely out of hand.
Set in 1905, the film has an even older quality to it, reminiscent of the witch hunt era with its call to strict religious piety and themes of sacrifice. Evans, who further wrote the screenplay, hints early that things are not as they seem, ever so slowly turning up the heat per se as Thomas works his way deeper in the shadows of these twisted people. He is himself a flawed man, drug addicted and haunted by his past, now bound to his commitment to free his sister at any cost. Naturally, his identity is always on the brink of discovery, yet Evans is careful to never stretch this too far, concentrating much on establishing the curiously supernatural auro of the land he efforts to uncover.
While the story itself is cut and dry, it’s everything around it that accelerates it as Evans shows terrific restraint in traveling us to the horrific second act, giving payoff to the tick-tock like suspense leading up to it. We are meant to be left in the dark at times with the story refusing to keep this an easy to follow tale, ever so slowly filling in the gaps as the details emerge from the fog. Evans, who has long proved his strengths lie in the balance of violence of story, does so again here, giving that violence troubling weight. He creates worlds that feel deeply authentic and with Apostle, does so again, the setting dripping in desperation and aggression, the cast speaking in this sort of old world tongue that keeps it somewhat fable-like.
Stevens delivers as he so often does, but it’s Sheen’s great work as the cult leader that is the standout, disappearing into the fragile occultist with searing results. Be warned, the film, even if its start might lead you to think it more a sleuthy story than a horror one, transitions with jarring impact into its blood-filled corners, though never losing its grip on the tension. It won’t be for everyone, but Evans deserves kudos for sidestepping conventions and making a truly disturbing and yet significant film. Highly recommended.