Netflix‘s latest action offering Apex proves once again that a combination of A-list stars and breathtaking locations is enough to draw audiences to a streaming platform — even when the script travels a well-worn road.
Charlize Theron and Eric Bana play an adventurous couple scaling the towering cliffs of Norway. When a brutal storm sends Tommy (Bana) to his death, Sasha (Theron) is left alone, hanging by a thread. Five months later, she drives deep into the remote Australian outback — carrying Tommy’s ashes to be scattered in his homeland.
At a roadside gas station, she crosses paths with Ben (Taron Egerton), who comes across as friendly, knowledgeable about the terrain, and genuinely helpful. It doesn’t take long before that illusion shatters. Ben is a dangerous psychopath, armed with a sophisticated crossbow, and he has selected Sasha as the next target in his private hunting game.
Director Baltasar Kormákur — whose credits include Everest, Beast, and Adrift — brings his signature intensity to the material. At a tight 95 minutes, the film never lets up. Kormákur’s approach is refreshingly old-school: CGI-free, stunt-heavy filmmaking that puts the stars in genuine physical jeopardy and keeps the action grounded and visceral.
The film’s single greatest asset is Lawrence Sher’s stunning cinematography. Australia’s dense forests, raging rivers, and untamed wilderness are captured with such sweeping beauty that you’ll almost wish Netflix charged a ticket price.
Theron once again cements her status as Hollywood’s most reliable female action star. From mountain peaks to a wild, churning river, her physical commitment is total and utterly convincing.
Egerton is fully unhinged as the villain — and that’s meant as a compliment. His Ben is quietly terrifying, veering into Silence of the Lambs territory as the film reveals a hidden cave lined with the remains of his previous victims. The actor is completely all-in, and it shows.
Jeremy Robbins’ screenplay never escapes the familiar clichés of the stalker sub-genre. Character development is virtually nonexistent — this is a lean, mean two-hander built on momentum rather than depth. For a director as talented as Kormákur, the script feels like a ceiling rather than a launchpad.
The survival sequences — including a Deliverance-nodding river escape — are thrilling in the moment, but the film’s trajectory is never in serious doubt.
Gorgeous to look at and relentlessly paced, Apex coasts on Theron’s exceptional physicality and Sher’s breathtaking visuals. It’s a perfectly engineered Netflix action machine.
