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maltatoday 10 | SUNDAY • 28 OCTOBER 2018 FILM FILM IN a world were carefully curated franchise-universes and reboots are the order of the day, a fresh vision is al- ways welcome. The work of Welsh director Gareth Evans is certainly a jolt of some kind – his take on the martial arts film with The Raid (2011) and its sequel (2014) made him a name to watch out for, as he crafted films that may be lacking in narrative heft but whose commitment to the genre was as striking as it was rigorous and committed. Now, he appears to have switched generic gears almost entirely while offering up a piece of work with an equal amount of intensity and zeal. A 'Netflix Original', Apostle is a dizzying, cruel, blood and strange descent into the dark- er side of humanity. Set in 1905, it tells the thankless tale of former Christian mission- ary Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens), who is compelled to travel from England to a remote Welsh island by his aristocratic (and now, geriat- ric) father after his sister, Jen- nifer (Elen Rhys) is kidnapped by a strange cult who intend to use her to ransom some money from the Richardsons for their cause. Posing as a convert to the cult, led by Malcolm Howe (Michael Sheen), who is aided by his beefier and less forgiv- ing right hand man Quinn (Mark Lewis Jones), the al- ready-embittered Thomas discovers that extracting his sister may not be as simple an affair as he had previously im- agined, as the cult's tight-knit community takes the surveil- lance of its members very se- riously… despite holding to principles of freedom from the royal edicts of England as one of their sacrosanct prin- ciples. But Thomas soon lifts the veil on the cult and the true reason for their 'economic' problems… and the reality of it turns out to be stranger than he could ever have im- agined. Apostle is a film that's not for the faint of heart. Though beautifully shot by cinema- tographer Matt Flannery, the immersion only serves to plunge the viewer into an unforgiving universe where rural violence is the order of the day, and social violence is not too far behind. Stand- ard post-Wicker Man fare in some ways, sure, but certainly an intense – and generically appropriate, it must be said – jolt of horror. It is also something of a mess. Edited by Evans him- self, it feels like something of a half-finished, lumbering beast at times. One almost suspects that it was original- ly designed as a mini-series (for Netflix itself, perhaps) but that Evans and co. were forced to reverse-engineer it into a feature at the last min- ute. Certainly a worthwhile pre- Halloween watch for those eager to embrace the violent kaleidoscope at its centre, but one that could also have used another spit-polish. A departure for the Welsh director known for the superlative actioners The Raid 1 and 2, Apostle sees Gareth Evans delve into Wicker Man territory with mixed results APOSTLE COLOSSAL THROTTLE DOCILE FOSSIL A P O ST LE ( 18 + ) Teodor Reljic ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The verdict THEMATICALLY rich and narratively audacious, Gareth Evans' gory and re- freshingly strange revenge drama-meets-horror thriller is certainly an intense curi- osity. However, what it has in guts it lacks in planning and logic, and no amount of inspired violence or spirited performances are capable of papering over some of its gaping plot holes and rushed editing choices. Those will- ing to undertake the some- what arduous trip will how- ever be rewarded with a jolt of strangeness that is lack- ing from most mainstream feature film outings in this day and age. The Apostle is currently streaming on Netflix The cost of true strangeness