Charlize Theron Drives Apex Film 2026 With 90-Minute Chase
Charlize Theron powers apex film 2026 as Netflix’s 90-minute thriller Apex puts her Sasha in a cat-and-mouse chase across the Australian outback with Taron Egerton’s Ben. The film lands as a compact action release, and the reviews lean hard on Theron’s physical work rather than plot mechanics.
Theron and Egerton
The sharpest reaction centers on Theron, with The saying she delivered the most athletically demanding performance of her action-movie career. Empire was just as direct, giving Apex four stars and calling Theron “completely commanding” as Sasha, while IGN said she “crafts a relatable and grounded performance” with “emotional sensitivity and physical prowess.”
Egerton gets a different assignment. He plays the deranged hunter Ben, and Empire called him “a canny bit of casting in a rare villain role,” adding that the Welsh actor turns his natural charisma and sinewy frame “into something sinister and terrifying.” IGN was similarly blunt, saying he “proves his worth as a weirdly menacing antagonist.”
Baltasar Kormákur’s Outback
Baltasar Kormákur directs the film, and the setting does real work here: treacherous ascents, lethal rapids, and a merciless landscape drive Sasha’s journey until it is derailed by meeting Ben. That structure gives Apex its businesslike appeal — a stripped-down chase, two lead performances, and a runtime that stays at 90 minutes instead of sprawling into franchise territory.
Variety called it a “short, taut, spectacularly shot thriller” and said, “It’s clear that this film’s natural habitat is the cinema,” before adding, “A full Friday-night multiplex house, preferably, where viewers can shriek in unison with each obvious but effective jolt.” The same review described it as “a proudly pleasurable B-movie lavished with the benefits of A-movie craftsmanship,” which is the clearest signal that the film is being judged as a high-end genre play rather than prestige drama.
Variety and Empire
Variety’s cinema-first line is the complication inside Apex’s release story: the film is on Netflix, but several critics are framing it as something designed to hit hardest in a theater. Empire’s verdict — “Just a solidly made cat-and-mouse thriller, with muscularly committed performances from its two leads” — lands in the same place, giving the movie strong action credibility even as it keeps the scale tight.
For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple. If you want the version critics are praising, this is a Theron-led thriller built around physical performance, a 90-minute clock, and a chase through the outback that several reviewers think plays bigger on a cinema screen than on a couch.
