Apostle

September 21, 2018
Horror/Thriller
TV-MA
United States
Director: Gareth Evans

“Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly, they are ravening wolves.” – Matthew 7:15 KJV

It’s 1905 and the wayward son of the prestigious Richardson family has returned home; though, not in a way he had hoped. Thomas (Dan Stevens) gets information telling him that his sister, Jennifer (Elen Rhys) has been kidnapped by a religious cult and there’s a ransom being demanded for her return. He’s warned to not reveal who he is or to give the cult the ransom until he can see that Jennifer is alive. As Jennifer has always been there for him, Thomas vows to be there for her.

He gets himself invited to join the cult and is taken away on a boat with other members to the cult’s village on an island off of the coast of England. He does as he’s told and fits in well with the villagers, even earning the trust of the prophet, Malcolm (Michael Sheen), after saving Malcolm’s life. Malcolm claims that he’s been chosen by the goddess who rules the island, and as long as they do as he says, she will provide for them.

But even with the different acquaintances he makes, there’s one that Thomas trusts more than the rest: a younger man by the name of Jeremy (Bill Milner). Jeremy confesses to Thomas that he had known Jennifer, and that Malcolm’s guards were keeping her locked up. He agrees to help Thomas get Jennifer back, but tells him to not pay the ransom. Heeding the warning, Thomas decides to sneak Jennifer off the island.

There are problems that get in the way, however. Jeremy’s father, Frank (Paul Higgins) can see that the village is ruined and wants to get him and his son away. The other who had helped found the cult, Quinn (Mark Lewis Jones), is the brute force of the three and wants nothing more than to rule the island himself by keeping the goddess as his own, personal slave. He’s a man of anger and revenge, proven by carving up his own daughter, Ffion (Kristine Froseth) and brutally killing Jeremy.

Through the aches and pains, the death and dismemberment of friends, Thomas refuses to give up. As he’s searching, he finds the goddess herself (Sharon Morgan). She begs for him to free her, and he does by setting her on fire. After, he finds Jennifer and rushes to get her and Malcolm’s daughter, Andrea (Lucy Boynton), to a boat that’s waiting for them. Jennifer and Andrea make it, but Thomas, who Quinn had stabbed multiple times, tells them to leave him behind. As the boat sails away, Thomas’ body is taken by the island.

This movie has a lot of what I like when it comes to horror: blood and gore. And trust me when I say, I gets pretty brutal. As you’re watching, you can almost feel the hooks digging into your skin and your fingers being ripped from your hands. It had so much potential… then they ruined it by adding the whole goddess aspect. Unless a movie claims to have supernatural phenomena in it, it just destroys horror for me. It’s not that scary to me, anyway, but something so over-the-top like what they did with this film, frankly, is nothing short of disappointing. There is no part about it to fear. Had they left it with just people tormenting one another, that would be a movie worth watching, because there’s nothing more frightening than the knowledge of what humans are willing to do to each other. Adding the goddess into it was such a let-down.

Also, animal deaths. I will admit that it added to the overall ickiness, but if you’re anything like me, those parts are going to be really hard to watch.

So, do I recommend this movie? Just based on the goddess part, I would say no. It did absolutely nothing for the film. If you’re a gore fan, as I am, I would say it’s worth it for that. The acting can’t be discredited, either. Michael Sheen, for me, is what saved what little this movie had to offer. I had such high hopes when going into this, and to have to end up with a fairly negative review really is a bummer. But, I’m not gonna lie; it is what it is. If you’d like to take two hours out of your day and check it out, it’s not bad enough that I’ll judge you for it. But, I won’t waste my time again.

If you have a movie you would like me to review, leave a comment or send an email to spoileralertblog@outlook.com with “movie review” in the subject line.