If you enjoy movies where one person is forced to fight for survival against an enemy who seems to know every possible way to kill them, Apex is the kind of movie that will probably keep you watching. Starring Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton and Eric Bana, the 2026 Netflix survival thriller takes a familiar premise and places it in the Australian wilderness.
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Apex follows Sasha, an experienced adventurer who is still struggling with the death of her husband, Tommy. What begins as an attempt to reconnect with herself in the Australian wilderness soon turns into a nightmare when she realizes that she is being hunted by someone far more dangerous than the natural environment around her.
The movie was released on Netflix on April 24, 2026, and runs for about 95 minutes.
My Take on Apex
My biggest takeaway from Apex is that the movie is better as a survival thriller than it is as a story.
There are moments when the film is genuinely exciting. The climbing sequences, river scenes and chase sequences give the movie a physical intensity that keeps things moving. Charlize Theron is also perfectly suited for this kind of role because she can make Sasha look believable as someone who knows how to survive in difficult conditions.
But at the same time, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen parts of this movie before.
Apex uses many familiar survival-thriller ingredients: an isolated location, a vulnerable protagonist, a mysterious stranger, a dangerous predator and a battle of intelligence between hunter and hunted. Critics have made similar observations, describing the film as entertaining but heavily influenced by earlier wilderness thrillers.
That doesn’t automatically make the movie bad. The problem is that the film occasionally feels like it is depending on the cast and action sequences to compensate for a story that isn’t particularly original.
The Opening Is One of the Best Parts
The opening immediately tells you that Sasha isn’t an ordinary tourist.
She and Tommy are experienced climbers attempting to conquer the Troll Wall in Norway. The sequence is dangerous from the beginning, with the couple hanging high above the ground while dealing with difficult weather conditions.
Then tragedy strikes.
Tommy falls to his death, leaving Sasha alive but emotionally damaged.
I liked this opening because it gives the character a reason to be in the emotional state she is in when the main story begins. Sasha isn’t simply running into the Australian wilderness because the screenplay needs her there. She is trying to deal with guilt and grief.
Five months later, she travels to the Australian wilderness for another adventure. However, the trip quickly turns into something completely different.
The opening climbing sequence was also one of the areas where the movie’s direction really impressed me. Director Baltasar Kormákur previously directed Everest, and his experience with survival stories is visible in the way the film handles height, danger and physical environments.
Charlize Theron Carries the Movie
Charlize Theron is probably the biggest reason I stayed invested in Apex.
Sasha is physically capable, intelligent and experienced, but she isn’t presented as someone who can simply defeat every problem with brute strength. She makes mistakes, becomes frightened and has to improvise.
That makes the character more interesting.
Theron also understands how to communicate emotion without constantly explaining everything through dialogue. Much of Sasha’s pain comes from what happened to Tommy, and the movie gradually connects that tragedy to her decisions throughout the story.
There is a believable physicality to her performance too.
When Sasha is running, climbing, swimming or fighting, it feels like the character is actually exhausted. That matters in a survival movie because the audience needs to believe that the protagonist is being pushed to her limits.
And Apex certainly pushes her.
Taron Egerton Is Surprisingly Uncomfortable
Taron Egerton plays Ben, the man who initially appears to be a friendly local.
This is where the movie changes direction.
Ben doesn’t immediately look like the obvious villain. He is helpful and appears to know the Australian wilderness extremely well. He gives Sasha advice and offers assistance when she needs it.
But something feels wrong.
Eventually, Sasha discovers that Ben isn’t the helpful stranger she thought he was.
He is hunting her.
And this is where Egerton gives the movie some of its strangest energy. His performance is deliberately unsettling. Rather than playing Ben as a traditional angry villain, Egerton gives him a disturbing sense of enjoyment.
He seems to enjoy the hunt.
That makes the relationship between Sasha and Ben more interesting because this isn’t simply a situation where the hero has to escape a monster. Ben wants to psychologically break his victim before killing her.
His character also takes the film into much darker territory than the opening suggests.
The Australian Wilderness Looks Fantastic
One thing I definitely cannot complain about is the scenery.
The Australian wilderness gives Apex a beautiful but threatening setting. Rivers, cliffs, forests, caves and rocky terrain become part of the story rather than simply existing in the background.
The irony is that Sasha is already an experienced adventurer. She knows how to deal with nature.
The problem is that nature isn’t her biggest enemy.
It’s another human being.
That is a familiar idea in survival cinema, but Apex uses the environment effectively to make Sasha’s situation increasingly difficult. A river can become an escape route one moment and a death trap the next.
The movie’s visual quality has also been praised by reviewers, with several noting that its large-scale wilderness sequences might have benefited from a theatrical release rather than going directly to streaming.
The Movie Gets Darker Than Expected
One thing I wasn’t expecting from Apex was just how disturbing Ben’s character becomes.
At first, you might think you’re watching a conventional survival thriller about a woman being chased through the wilderness.
Then the film reveals more about Ben.
His victims, his hidden location and his horrifying methods push the story into much darker territory.
This is also where I think the movie becomes less convincing.
The filmmakers clearly want Ben to be terrifying, but some of his characteristics are so extreme that they can take you out of the story.
Instead of thinking, “This man is frightening,” you may occasionally find yourself thinking, “How did we get here?”
That doesn’t mean the villain doesn’t work. Taron Egerton is committed to the performance. But the screenplay sometimes pushes the character beyond believable territory.
The Chase Sequences Are the Real Attraction
If you are watching Apex primarily for action and survival sequences, you will probably get more enjoyment from it.
The movie gives Sasha plenty to deal with.
She has to run through the wilderness, deal with dangerous terrain, navigate water and find ways to stay ahead of Ben.
There is also a particularly brutal sequence involving a bear trap that demonstrates just how desperate Sasha’s situation has become.
The action isn’t simply about shooting guns or throwing punches. Much of it involves physical survival.
That works well for the movie because Sasha’s greatest weapon isn’t necessarily strength.
It’s her experience.
She knows how to climb. She knows how to read her surroundings. She understands survival techniques. And when Ben gives her very few options, she has to use whatever knowledge she has left.
Where Apex Loses Me
My biggest problem with Apex is the screenplay.
The movie has a strong basic premise, two talented leads and an impressive setting. But the story sometimes feels like it is moving from one survival set piece to another without giving the characters enough depth.
Some of the dialogue also feels unnatural.
There are moments when characters say things because the screenplay needs information delivered rather than because a real person would actually speak that way.
The film also tries to give Sasha and Ben a psychological connection, particularly toward the final part of the story. I understand what the filmmakers were attempting to do, but I wasn’t completely convinced by it.
The movie wants the relationship between hunter and hunted to become more complicated.
For me, it doesn’t completely earn that complication.
The Ending
Without going too deeply into spoilers, the final section gives Sasha one more major challenge.
By this point, the movie has transformed from a straightforward chase into a survival battle where both characters have to rely on their physical abilities.
I liked the fact that Sasha’s climbing experience becomes important again.
It creates a nice connection with the opening sequence.
At the beginning of the movie, climbing is associated with tragedy and the death of Tommy. By the end, Sasha has to confront that same fear and use the skills that once brought her pain.
That gives the ending more emotional meaning than the rest of the screenplay sometimes manages to achieve.
Is Apex Worth Watching?
For me, Apex is a decent survival thriller that doesn’t quite reach its potential.
It has Charlize Theron doing what she does best, a surprisingly unusual performance from Taron Egerton, beautiful Australian locations and several genuinely tense action sequences.
But the story itself is familiar.
If you’ve watched movies like Fall, The River Wild, Deliverance or other wilderness survival thrillers, you may recognize many of the ideas being used here. Apex doesn’t completely reinvent the genre.
That said, originality isn’t everything.
Sometimes you simply want to sit down, press play and watch a character fight her way through one terrible situation after another.
Apex delivers that.
My Rating
My rating: 6.5/10
I would give Apex a 6.5 out of 10.
The performances and action are the strongest elements. Charlize Theron is convincing as Sasha, and Taron Egerton gives Ben enough unpredictability to make the chase interesting.
The biggest weaknesses are the familiar story, uneven dialogue and some decisions that make the villain and final act less convincing than they could have been.
The critical response has also been mixed. Some reviewers praised the film’s action and performances, while others criticized its formulaic story and lack of originality.
Final Verdict
Apex is not a masterpiece, but I don’t think it needs to be.
It is a fast-moving survival thriller with enough action to keep you entertained for its relatively short runtime. The movie looks good, Charlize Theron is reliable as always, and Taron Egerton clearly enjoys playing against type.
Would I watch it again?
Probably not immediately.
Would I recommend it to someone who enjoys survival thrillers?
Yes.
Just don’t go into Apex expecting a completely new idea. Go in expecting a tense cat-and-mouse survival story, beautiful wilderness scenery and Charlize Theron fighting to stay alive.
And on those terms, Apex does the job.
James
