Film Pick of the Week: Apex - review by Yvette Huddleston

Mountaineering couple, and adrenaline junkies, Sasha (Charlize Theron) and Tommy (Eric Bana) are attempting a tandem climb of the mighty Troll Wall in Norway. The tent where they have just spent the night is on a tiny ledge halfway up the cliff and as Sasha awakes, she looks out into the dizzying void below. (Warning – this isn’t comfortable viewing for anyone with vertigo).

They try to get to the summit a couple of times – Sasha is clearly more determined to do it than Tommy and eventually decide to call it a day. Back in their tent that night, Tommy admits that he no longer wants to go on such extreme adventures, much to Sasha’s disdain. They agree to have one last go at the summit the following day which ends in tragedy.

Five months later, the widowed Sasha is travelling solo in the Australian outback, still in search of a high-intensity experience. And that is certainly what she gets, though not quite in the way she might have imagined or wanted. Arriving in her campervan, with her canoe strapped to the roof, in a small town on the edges of the wilderness, she stops at a shop and petrol station to fill up on fuel and pick up a few provisions.

While there she encounters some unsavoury hunter types who she deals with adroitly and meets local guide Ben (Taron Egerton) who advises her on where to find a secluded camping spot for the night. She takes his advice (bad move) and, having ignored the national park warden’s warning not to go alone – his office wall is plastered with ‘Missing’ posters – heads out into the wilderness.

She enjoys some white-water canoeing along the rapids then settles down for the night placing her rucksack high up in a tree to keep it safe. However, the next morning her belongings, including her phone, are gone. She sets out of foot into the woods and comes across Ben who has set up camp in a clearing. It quickly becomes apparent he is very disturbed indeed, points a crossbow at her and tells her to run. So the chase begins. This benefits from a great gutsy performance from Theron and a chilling one from Egerton. The tension is high; the pace is relentless; it’s edge of your seat stuff all the way.