 What is going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overlord here This is gonna be reviewed for the 2018 Netflix original religious horror film that premiered this morning Apostle Apostle is another one of those religious horror films. So if you're into the witch From that came out a few years ago. I definitely say you'll find some enjoyment in this film is directed by Directed by Gareth Evans who was known for his raid films. Everyone loves the raid films Me personally, I'm not a big fan of them But I do respect what what happened on screen and I do think those are very well-crafted films Although I'm not a big fan of them as a whole. I think they were very well done pieces of art This movie here is more my line because it's a horror based film and I horror is my favorite genre Apostle was directed by Gareth Evans who also wrote it. He's best known for his Raid films for all the violence and he's kind of shifting gears into the horror genre for this film here It stars Dan Stevens from downtown Abbey Christine Frausef Lucy Boynton and Michael Sheen It had its premiere last month of the fantastic film at the fantastic fest and it was met with mostly positive reviews from critics Dan Stevens he stars as Thomas Richardson who is a former missionary who has lost all faith in any type of God or a Deity and he has been he has been disconnected from his family ever since an event occurred that led to the downfall of his faith He returns home once he gets word from his relatives that his sister has been taken up for ransom And she's being she's being held captive on a remote island called Erickson by a false prophet named Malcolm played by Michael Sheen who also has a group of followers that he has built up And they have also removed moved over to that island as well as the film progresses We come to find that they have like their own little type of society going on there and they're actually Michael has the his followers like donating blood of sorts not donating But like just cutting their wrist at will whenever he says so they relieve everything that Malcolm is preaching What Malcolm is ultimately doing he he's the only one that sees this him and the people that he keeps by his side The higher-ups involved with Malcolm. They are all worshiping a deity that exists on this island And that's what's going on here There's a deity on the island that every that Malcolm has convinced everyone to start worship even though they cannot see it The performances in this film are absolutely like they're not anything Oscar worthy or anything But they're so they're so well done that they keep you interested throughout the whole film The first half of the film is a very slow-paced film And once Thomas infiltrates the island and discovers the truth about the cult That's when a lot of the stuff starts to pick up because in the beginning of the film there's a lot of weird images that we get shown and there's a lot of Puzzle pieces given to the audience to help you figure out along the way what's going on here on this island and For fans of like the genre that appreciate the 2015 horror film the witch I want to say that this will probably be up your alley because this is a perfect blend of the witch From 2015 and Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 classic Dracula Apostle does an amazing job of building tension suspense And it also like gives it raises several questions about what is actually going on in the earlier portions of the film Like I said before the first half of the film is bit of a slow burn So it's kind of building up to what's to come before The action picks up and you get that dose of what you come to expect from Gareth Evans If you've seen his raid films you get that dose of that towards the middle and it progresses into the end There's a lot of beautifully done bloody shots that we get shown action sequences And it also kind of like delivers as far as its cinematography is concerned The action sequences are very violent when they happen and there's a lot of unsettling images that get shown to the audience Religion as far as horror is concerned has been a big thing going on and recently earlier in the year I believe Netflix also had a film come out entitled the ritual would also which also dealt with the same concept of Worshiping a patent or a Deity of sorts this film is kind of like a reminder of the links human beings will go to When they are pushed to a certain length It's kind of just a big reminder of what humans are willing to do when they have full devotion to a deity that they cannot see Or something that they believe in that they really have no evidence to prove that it exists This is like by no means on the same level of the raid I think the raid films are actually slightly better But Apostle is a gothic horror piece set in the 1900s and it works when it wants to Gareth does an amazing job allowing the puzzle pieces to be scattered throughout the film And he gives you enough enough information for you to put it all together And what I also like is that this film is kind of like hereditary in a way You don't know more than what Thomas is Thomas Thomas knows as the film progresses you start to find out as much as he does and you become more aware of What is going on with the cult as the film progresses right along with Thomas? So the audience is going to be right in the same place with him throughout the throughout the ride of this film While the second half of the film answers questions and that's when you get your bloody sequences That's also kind of where it starts to fall apart because a while a lot of the questions get answered a lot of them go unanswered So it kind of creates inconsistencies and the story isn't as coherent towards the very end This is a very well active film. It's beautifully directed. It has superb visual imagery the score that's That's accompanying the film also helps build up that slow burn that is there and a lot of people like I said You're going to appreciate this if you are a big fan of the witch from 2015 This is a cult-based horror film about a man saving his sister from the clutches of a false prophet and his followers And while it's not a complete masterpiece, this film should be watched by fans of Gareth Evans who have waited for his next film If I were to give it a rating on a scale of one to ten I want to give apostle a solid seven out of ten If you guys have seen apostle or if you haven't I highly recommend checking it out if you have let me know What you guys thought about it down in the comment section below if you enjoyed my review give this video a thumbs up If you haven't already subscribed and turn on post notifications, so you never miss a video also in the description I will have links to all my social media accounts on my Facebook Twitter and Instagram You can message me there to let me know what movies you'd like me to review in the future with all that in mind Guys, I will be back with another horror movie review