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Apostle Review

Drama Meets Horror

By Joseph Roy WrightPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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A horror movie with good drama.

This story goes much deeper than any other supernatural folk horror. Although the film has plenty of occult moments of terror, at it's core, Apostle is a tense drama where the real monsters are the ruthless village folk that are corrupt and evil. For there is dark cult that rules this isolated island.

Apostle has an interesting twist.

The story follows Thomas Richardson (played by Dan Stevens) as he ventures to a mysterious island, in order to find his missing sister, Jennifer (played by Elen Rhys). The plot sounds very similar to that of The Wicker Man, and much like that movie, Apostle's antagonists are a group of cultists that are hiding a dark secret within the village. Going into Apostle I knew it was a supernatural thriller and I expected the main villain to be some supernatural monster or force, much like The Conjuring or Insidious. However we soon discover that the real conflict within this story comes from the brutality portrayed by the cruel and wicked leaders of the cult, who control the main village.

The cult leaders are the real monsters.

There is of course a witch behind the successful growth of the crops, but this reveal isn't as sinister as you would expect. Throughout the film we see glimpses of this witch, suggesting that she is this mysterious villainous behind all the madness. She is treated like the typical horror movie monster that haunts the island, occasionally haunting the main characters. We do get plenty of creepy and gory scenes of her and the "Feeder" as I call him, who is this mysterious man with a sack over his head, who is clearly demonically possessed or under some sort of dark spell, for he acts more like an animal and never speaks, only roars and whines. So there are still plenty of creepy crawly moments in Apostle and the horror is genuinely terrifying. However, it is revealed in the final act of this film that this witch is being forced by the two cult leaders into being fed fresh blood of animals and humans. She is trapped to a chair covered in foliage and every time she is fed blood, plant life grows around her and this is how the cult keep their crops alive, despite planting them on scorched earth. Unfortunately as this went on, animal blood no longer sustained the crop life, so the cult began cutting up people to feed her. This is why they have stolen Thomas Richardson's sister, to feed her to this witch, who is miserably stuck to a personal hell of her own. Despite the witch's monstrous appearance, knowing this actually humanizes her, making the true villains (who are regular people) look like the real devils of this story. The twist had me on the edge of my seat, as this real threat terrified me more, as a mob of angry cultists is something far more true to reality.

There are still plenty of horrifying monsters in Apostle.

Not only does Apostle have fantastic gore effects, with a intriguing twist, but the acting is also excellent too! At times, Apostle doesn't feel like a horror movie at all, but a tense drama with a lot of heart. All main characters are nicely developed and have believable motives. There are times when the film gives us flashbacks or side stories for these characters and it really adds to the depths of the character development. Ultimately the characters in Apostle all feel like real and believable people, this serves to make the deaths very impactful and emotional too. Overall the film is very solid and definitely worth watching! I couldn't recommend it anymore, Apostle is a 5 Star movie in my opinion.

A 5 Star movie in my opinion.

Apostle is a 5 Star movie, a great scare with decent drama. By far one of the best horror movies to watch on Netflix. Those who love folklore horror stories will not be disappointed, as the film contains plenty of supernatural scares, plus a cruel and wicked cult to really keep you on edge.

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About the Creator

Joseph Roy Wright

Hello there!

My name is Joseph Roy Wright, the British author of 12 Independent novels!

I like to write about movies, pop culture, fiction and horror! I review all the latest films (and classics), I also like to write short stories.

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