The newest action movie from Netflix was just released on April 24, 2026. It features a survival-thriller-genre story written by Jeremy Robbins with direction from Baltasar Kormakur. The director transitioned from his high stakes action thrillers like 2 Guns (2013) in the mid 2010s, to now be known for projects depicting characters fighting extreme environments like Everest (2015) and Adrift (2018). Apex fits snugly into his catalogue, as a film that includes a human antagonist, but still prominently includes the sublime Australian landscape of its setting.
The movie tells the story of an adrenaline junkie (Charlize Theron), with a tragic backstory, exploring a large natural park that surrounds a cascading river. While there, she finds herself becoming the prey in a hunt across the vast and untamed landscape of the park. It is certainly not the first story of its kind, drawing clear comparisons to The Most Dangerous Game. This story, however, turns almost horror-like as it approaches its climax.
Right away, Apex opens with a high stakes sequence of characters fighting the environment while scaling a formidable and snow-covered mountain. Despite the high-intensity action, the movie feels quite predictable at times. There is a fine line between setting up twists in a story and heavily foreshadowing them to the point where they become obvious. It is a very delicate balance that few films manage to get right. Unfortunately, Apex usually falls on the latter side of that line, but still, its predictability doesn’t hurt its watchability as much as you might think. For example, it is pretty easy to guess that something bad is going to happen in the opening sequence. But with a nice buildup, compelling acting, and amazing cinematography, it is still an impactful scene – even if you can see it coming from a mile away.
My only other major gripe with the film is its repeated use of long sequences where very little happens. There are multiple periods of the film where we watch Sasha (Charlize Theron) traversing the park on her own. This would be a great time to reveal more about her character. They could show her encountering challenges and working through them, interacting with wildlife in a way that highlights her personality, or a million other things that would help the audience invest in her character, invest in the story, and make these long sequences more interesting. Instead, the most we ever get is her silently avoiding a group of hunters, silently walking through trails, and painlessly kayaking over a river. Even the big chase scene becomes slightly boring. We get one or two interesting moments in the whole sequence, but it just feels like they do not use the terrain and characters to their full advantage. Sure, the film is perhaps more realistic this way, but it makes for a main character with very little personality, and some long montages that tend to be on the boring side.
However, the film is often saved by two things – the awe-inspiring cinematography and amazing acting. Lawrence Sher (Joker, War Dogs, The Bride!) did the cinematography for this project, and it is one of the best I’ve seen this year. He is obviously aided by the beautiful Australian scenery, but it’s not just the wide and establishing shots of the park that look beautiful. The warmth of color in the tent when Sasha and Tommy are together, the brutal return to reality at the end of the film, and the darkness and desperation shown at the park information center are all examples of how well the cinematography is executed and displayed. Many of the long sequences that I was talking about before are completely saved by the stunning shots of the scenery. What could have been boring scenes with nothing going on are now a chance to admire the beauty of the surroundings.
The acting in this film also makes up for many of its shortcomings. Charlize Theron has very little to work with in the script, but manages to still portray a somewhat interesting character that we can’t help but root for by the end of the movie. Eric Bana (Tommy) is quite a likeable character in his limited screentime. And Taron Egerton (Ben) steals the show. His character is by far the most interesting and developed. Towards the climax of the film, as the story gets closer and closer to becoming a horror movie, Taron Egerton is someone you can’t take your eyes off of. His character is so fun to watch, and really brings the only personality that the film has. If the film had not gotten these great acting performances, it would not work at all.
Overall, Apex finds its highs in Taron Egerton’s compelling performance and flashes of impressive cinematography, but too often falls into a predictable, slow-moving rhythm that keeps it from fully capitalizing on its strengths.
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