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Many Netflix originals feel like made-for-streaming content.
That’s not remotely a compliment.
Yes, they have recognizable stars and movie-level budgets. They still leave something to be desired, and that’s being kind. Even the better titles, like “Nonnas,” leave a pleasant aftertaste more than must-see energy.
And then there’s “Apex.”
The thriller stars Charlize Theron as Sasha, an adventure junkie working through a major personal loss. So she sets out to explore the Australian Outback, eager to spend time alone with her thoughts.
It might be good for her soul, and perhaps her sanity. She gets some unexpected company from randy locals eager to get to know her better.
Yech.
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Another stranger seems more promising. He’s clean cut and refined, and he offers some neighborly advice sans the creep factor.
He’s played by Taron Egerton, all buff and bald and ready to embrace the outdoors in every way possible. He’s the kind of guy you want when you’re alone in the big, bad Australian Outback, right?
Right?
A quick peek at the trailer suggests otherwise.
Director Baltasar Kormákur (“Beast”) opens the film with bravura shots of Sasha and her climbing partner defying gravity with every inch up a formidable mountain. The camera work is unsettling, making even pedestrian moves feel dangerous.
Deadly, even.
Kormákur’s camera moves are equally slick later in the film, as Sasha navigates an unforgiving river and scrambles over the challenging terrain. This film feels like a Jillian Michaels’ workout.
Theron doesn’t have much to work with – the storyline is purposely lean and mean. She still evokes a woman at an emotional crossroads, and one whose physicality could be her only way out of certain doom.
No Girlbossery here, just a middle-aged survivor who knows how far to push her body. The Oscar winner is increasingly adept at these kinds of physical roles, from “Atomic Blonde” to this punishing affair.
Egerton has never been so lethal, and his character carries a secret that makes the cat-and-mouse storyline even more frightening.
Chomp, chomp.
“Apex” offers a few wrinkles in its third act, another sign that everyone involved acknowledged the formula at work but refused to connect the usual dots. That results in some wild jolts and a finale that proves even more satisfying than we hoped.
Now, why did this movie skip theaters again? Netflix and chilling should be “Apex’s” second act, not its first.
HiT or Miss: “Apex” doesn’t reinvent the “woman stalked in the wilderness” template. It’s just a first-class variation on it.
