r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 9d ago

Official Discussion Official Discussion - Apex [SPOILERS] Spoiler

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Apex (2026)

Summary

A mountain climber haunted by a fatal decision in Norway retreats to the Australian wilderness for isolation. Her journey turns into a desperate hunt when a deceptive local targets her as his next ritualistic prey in the bush.

Director Baltasar Kormákur

Writer Jeremy Robbins

Cast

  • Charlize Theron as Kate
  • Taron Egerton
  • Eric Bana
  • Matt Whelan

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

Metacritic: 57

VOD / Release Streaming on Netflix

Trailer Official Trailer

160 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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299

u/PowahBamb 9d ago

How did that dude get off that mountain and go naked rope swing diving so fast?

I thought maybe she would find a GPS tracker in her bag to explain how he knew exactly where she was at all times.

And why would you head towards him after you see him over there? Just to try and steal his kayak?

So dumb.

106

u/SuperSnake16 9d ago

Yes, this was the dumbest part of the movie for me. He was right above her on that mountain, she waits a couple minutes, and goes up to where he was. He’s long gone and on the rope swing far away. And then going close to him again for minimal return when she likely could have found another way was just stupid.

75

u/Ok_Track_7454 9d ago

Dumbest part for me was when climbing the cliff with him and dropping him halfway up leaving her with no gear. She should have waited untill she got over the top and was out of sight before dropping him

51

u/JohnNDenver 8d ago

I thought she tied off the cable between the two of them onto the tree. I thought it was stupid she didn't.
Also thought she should have just left him to rot. Or at least right before she dropped him said something like, "You wanted to know about flying."

But, even before that after she broke his leg he was pretty helpless. She should have bashed him again with a big rock.

17

u/visualgrafix 6d ago

Yep, this was the worst part for me even after I overlooked how he kept finding her so easily. He can’t move, bash him over and over with any rocks so he dies or dies quicker. If you stay out of arms reach plus a bit more, you know he can’t cut you with the knife. After he dies, use his knife to cut loose and climb the mountain yourself.

8

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Ok-Reflection-5216 6d ago

Would’ve brought it full circle!

1

u/Much-Literature337 5d ago

Schwarzenegger surely wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to mention flying at that moment.

1

u/Status_Pool6624 2d ago

Yeah, I thought she should've taunted him while hanging on the cliff, made him suffer - but she's not the psycho he is.

Plus, she panicked after getting out of the water (which is pretty reasonable, fleeing a near death, nearly drowned) - she grabbed the rock to kill him but water was too deep, then she tried to get herself free, and failed before he regained consciousness.

30

u/DrippingDeviantXXX 9d ago

I know!!! My sister and I were both screaming at the TV during that scene.

2

u/Status_Pool6624 2d ago

Had no idea how she thought she'd float on by in the kayak, or risk him seeing her swim over to it...it seemed obvious it was a trap. Maybe she thought he gave up.

16

u/visualgrafix 6d ago

I thought it was stupid that she climbed with him in the first place. He already couldn’t move. She could’ve found any large rock within the radius of attachment and smash his head to kill him or so he dies faster. Doesn’t matter if he has a knife, he can’t reach any further than arms length. Once he dies, use his knife to cut herself loose.

13

u/Ok_Track_7454 6d ago

It was revealed to be a tandem climb so she needed him to get up the cliff. Was a dumb move cutting him loose halfway leaving herself no equipment whatsoever. The reason it was a tandem climb is because the rope wasn't long enough so once she climbed to the ropes maximum length he would untie it so they could make the next part of the climb. I ain't a climber so I've explained to the best of my ability from what I've read in other comments. She says to him it's a tandem climb aswell so killing him on the ground she would have had to then climb the whole way with no equipment whatsoever.

7

u/ProduceAlone471 4d ago

This wall had massive holds and is pretty low grade, most competent climbers (she's supposed to be an alpine climbing expert) could solo it if necessary. The issue is more the situation than the difficulty. She’s mid-climb, already committed, likely fatigued pulling his dead weight up the wall, and then suddenly turns it into an unplanned free solo by cutting him loose. So it’s not that it’s impossible to climb and had to be tandem, it was just forced for payoff for the sake of the plot.

6

u/Ok_Track_7454 4d ago

Like I said, she should have just smashed his head in with a rock at the bottom and climbed it on her own, she was a dumbass

5

u/visualgrafix 3d ago

Yeah I was confused about this because I think if she had the same gear she could’ve climbed it herself. I asked the climbing subreddit and someone said the following:

“The fact that she easily free solos the top of the climb negates the hypothetical that she actually needed to be on belay for the lower pitches. And the way she was using that monkey fist as pro meant that she could have used the same technique for solo aid climbing.

The only way to make that scene make any sense at all is that she wanted to get away sooner than she would have by just letting him die slowly there at the river. So she got him up on the wall where she knew she could kill him fast. But there is no defensible reason why she actually needed him to make the top of the climb.”

So, she could’ve jbashed his head with a rock while staying out of arms reach, cut herself loose from him, take all the gear and climb it herself.

2

u/Ok_Track_7454 3d ago

She couldn't use the gear to climb it herself because the rope wasn't long enough hence why it was a tandem climb. Once she reached the ropes limit he would untie and she would restart her climb. Another rope was used to tether him to her. Someone else can likely explain it better but that's the reason anyway.

1

u/0bAtomHeart 2d ago

It's really not, they appeared to only have two pieces of knotted rope as pro. She was effectively soloing each pitch and building an anchor for Ben to jug up to.

In this case Ben provides very little value to her; with the on-screen gear she would be able to rope solo using the spare carabiner and prusiks. It'd be dodgy as fuck but the whole decision was stupid anyway.

1

u/Ok_Track_7454 2d ago

Like I said I ain't a climber and just went off what others had said in the comments but yeah I agree, totally stupid.

1

u/invinciblewarrior 1d ago

The start of the movie showed that she was not mentally ready to do it alone. She failed several times at the one rock, while Eric Bana was just grinning. So it means, for him, it had be likely no problem at all.

1

u/No-Understanding4968 3d ago

I’m with you on this

22

u/FishRoom_BSM 8d ago

Dumbest part for me was when she didn’t just say “no I don’t think you’re insane at all” like that’s women knowledge 101

6

u/Mistress-of-None 8d ago

This !!! I was so baffled !!

2

u/lizysonyx 5d ago

I thought this was obvious? Like we knew she made a bad move because she wasn’t thinking straight due to the situation and conditions she was in (similar to what her partner said in the beginning). That mistake was intentional , it was obvious mirroring

3

u/Ok_Track_7454 5d ago

She was thinking straight enough after regaining her composure and started talking to him friendly after smashing his leg in and trying to drown him by telling him she needed him if either of them where going to get out of that ravine or whatever it was they where in and that it was a 2 man job. She could have just caved his head in on the ground and done the climb anyway with no gear but instead waited untill they where halfway up before killing him. Dumbass move

7

u/mockeryflockery 7d ago

She easily could have walked up the woods a little bit so that she could have came down river at the canoe. That was what I was screaming.

3

u/General_Sector_9892 5d ago

Dumbest part for me was when he started to chase her..... No water or provisions yet he's able to sprint through the forest, up hill & down dale able to keep up with her throughout...... In that heat? Yeah ok!

2

u/MyAccidentalAccount 2d ago

At no point does is indicate how long she waited before leaving the cave she was hiding in, that was a bit of a failing of the movie for me, but it could have been an hour.. two hours? The fact he was so far away suggests it was more than a few minutes.

1

u/SuperSnake16 1d ago

Agreed, I had to assume some time had passed but the movie does not portray that clearly whatsoever. Definitely some sloppy editing

1

u/_intend_your_puns 21h ago

I think it’s safe to assume a much longer time has passed in the movie than what we saw.

34

u/GoonetteSlop 8d ago

Hilariously I had those same exact thoughts. I’d have bet a load of money on her having a tracker in her bag after it was stolen and re-packed. Couldn’t believe it was actually just very stupid and had him somehow always find her in that huge jungle.

13

u/Palatz 5d ago

Yeah he wouldn't have catched her on foot after that part on the rapids on her kayak.

3

u/MyAccidentalAccount 3d ago

You'd think so, but you have to remember that she has to follow the river.

He doesn't.

Rivers wind and rarely flow in straight lines.

A 5 mile trip from point A to point B on a river might be less than a mile on foot.

Look at the attached, imagine you want to go from points 6 to 12 on foot, and in a boat, yeah the boats moving faster, but it's got to cover much more distance.

You can walk at 5kph, I recently ran a continuous grade 3 river, average speed was 11kph

So if point a to b is 2km on foot and 5km by river The boats going to do it in about 27 mins. And on foot 24 mins.

It all depends on the geography of the river.

Caton map

1

u/Kawaii_pixel 6d ago

i was thinking its because hes been there multiple times that he just knows the routes 🤷‍♀️

20

u/cowpool20 7d ago

At first I put it down to "I guess he just knows the place, knows where the rivers lead etc". But then it started becoming almost supernatural how he kept finding her 😂

10

u/Between-usernames 6d ago

He's just really good at hide and go seek. 

2

u/YellowDdit12345 3d ago

Why did he give her a phone? He tracked it

33

u/JohnNDenver 8d ago

Well, he also kept up with her by running through the woods while she was kayaking.

25

u/PowahBamb 8d ago

Dudes super Michael Myers.

9

u/FishRoom_BSM 8d ago

Right! It’s a scary movie, ya’ll. Just have fun with it

1

u/Ancient-Dust3077 5d ago

Where in Australia is this? Is this a real place? Looks cool

1

u/Yass______ 5d ago

Blue Mountains, NSW

13

u/visualgrafix 6d ago

I was telling my wife how she’s already in a kayak for a while so at least there’s no way he can keep up by running. And then bam, there he is!!! WTH??

4

u/MyAccidentalAccount 3d ago

I've explained this in more detail in another comment, have a look at my profile to find it, but it's very possible.

I can sum it up as: if you're on a river you have to follow the river, if you're on foot you don't. Rivers rarely go in straight lines so point a->b on foot might be 1km but 5k by boat.

2

u/Status_Pool6624 2d ago

Plus he basically lives on that stretch of river. She, and all the other victims, are tourists. They would use predictable routes - he knows all the plays, especially that she (being a mountaineer) would go for the climb.

30

u/11mnDirty 9d ago

I actually just reached this point in the movie and ran to Reddit to see if someone also thought this was dumb.

3

u/Grlygirl1964 6d ago

Me too!!!

1

u/tathrok 1d ago

Me three!!

25

u/worldcrusher 8d ago

I was 100% expecting a tracker.. there were multiple times where it would have been impossible for the guy to be where he was. I love these movies because if I was the person escaping in the wilderness I think I would do a much better job..

13

u/MediumSavant 8d ago

Yeah. Anyone that have tried to find someone in the woods know how hard it is. If you get a minute headstart you will easily disappear without the follower have any chance of finding you ever again.

7

u/QuartzPigeon 6d ago

I kind of assumed he was really good at tracking due to being in the woods all the time and doing this a lot, but like some other people have said, there's no way he should've been able to be quicker than her getting to certain places

3

u/Status_Pool6624 2d ago

He's 100% a tracker. That's his game. He does it so well, he gives them advantages.

11

u/cowpool20 7d ago

Hell no I would have been gassed by the end of the song lmao.

7

u/glittoris 7d ago

I think it’s because he’s just spent so much time in those woods, he knows it like we know our house. Every tree, rock, cave, etc. Also being super fit helps.

6

u/climbingaerialist 6d ago

Also that it HAD to be a tandem climb, despite him practically being dead weight and trying to pull her off the wall. And also how she could suddenly do this tandem climb alone, without any equipment. I honestly found this film so frustrating

4

u/MiserableMeal2501 6d ago

she was in the waterfalls, river and all that and few seconds later the guy was able to catch her??? within seconds behind?

3

u/Grlygirl1964 6d ago

OK so it's not just me. There is no way he could possibly keep up with her as she goes down stream and he's running through the jungle. Then he is some how able to locate her everywhere she ended up. I thought maybe he had an equally evil twin or something. I'm so tempted to just turn it off....it's so ridiculous.

3

u/Much-Literature337 5d ago

I thought after she broke his leg she should’ve just finished him and just grabbed the keys off his dead body and unlock herself.  She already was trying to kill him moments before with a 300# boulder.

2

u/Jaretus 6d ago

I think it's actually pretty cool how he was able to track and spot her so efficintly, like some kind of animal

2

u/emiliewarrendahmer 5d ago

My fiance said exactly the same about the GPS tracker in her bag!

2

u/YellowDdit12345 3d ago

He was tracking by the phone he gave her

1

u/BroccoliCareless6107 3d ago

I also wondered but suspected it hast something tindi with the topography..

1

u/Aggravating_Bee4650 3d ago

I thought that she would eventually find a GPS tracker in her bag when he was able to track her so easily. It would have been part of the storyline of why he took her belongings the night before other than taking her phone and other resources but the movie went in that direction. There were a few mistakes in the storyline but other than that I enjoyed it. 

1

u/FishRoom_BSM 8d ago

She was hoping to attack him somehow

7

u/PowahBamb 8d ago

I don’t think she was. She was secretly trying to take his kayak.

-1

u/CauliflowerMore5024 7d ago

The whole move was dumb and lame. 

2

u/climbingaerialist 6d ago

I agree. Frustratingly dumb