![\"Kylie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b2e3a22bebcf961b7164c41b1cba8110f00c4e17.gif\")
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April 24, 2026 \u2014 9:01am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Apex \u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n Rock climbing and other adventure sport films have been enjoying a moment recently, which must be as much a boon for drone videographers as for adrenaline fans. Once the domain of niche documentaries, extreme sports stories have surged since Free Solo, <\/a>which won the Oscar for best documentary in 2019.<\/p>\n The new Netflix film Apex combines that high-stakes action with an Australian \u201coutback\u201d thriller, as Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton face off in a classic game of cat-and-mouse.<\/p>\n Theron is Sasha, an experienced climber who we first encounter scaling Europe\u2019s tallest rock face, the Troll Wall in Norway, with her equally experienced partner Tommy (Eric Bana). They\u2019re so seasoned that they can stop for a snog halfway up the famous \u201cbig wall\u201d. But their ascent doesn\u2019t go to plan, and five months later Sasha is in Australia and looking for some solace in nature. (Considering he\u2019s not even featured in the film\u2019s trailer, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a spoiler to reveal that Sasha is grieving).<\/p>\n Related Article The dusty roads, the tiny roadhouse and lack of mobile-phone coverage suggest Sasha is in the outback proper, but Australians will recognise the Blue Mountains as the fictional Wandarra National Park, home to popular climbing spots and rapid-filled waterways.<\/p>\n After dealing with some ocker hunting stereotypes at the roadhouse, a more kindly local tells Sasha about an out-of-the-way camping spot, which can only be found using a paper map \u2026 you may well have an inkling where this is headed.<\/p>\n Sasha spends an awkward evening hiding in her van from the dodgy hunters from the roadhouse, who turn up at her idyllic camping spot, and then spends the following day white-water kayaking. But when she wakes up the following morning her gear \u2013 including her food and mobile phone \u2013 has gone missing.<\/p>\n Taking back to the water, she runs into Ben (Egerton), the nice guy who told her about the spot. But after offering her breakfast, Ben quickly turns into something entirely different, revealing he has Sasha\u2019s bag, which he\u2019s restocked, and a challenge: she has until the end of an incongruous Chemical Brothers song to get as far away as possible, then he\u2019s coming after her with his crossbow. Sasha takes off into the bush, barefoot, and the rest of the film is a classic hunter-and-prey chase through an Australian tourism brochure.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Egerton is suitably creepy as the skilled bushman (and he doesn\u2019t do a bad Aussie accent), making unnerving screeching and trilling noises as he pursues Sasha on land, over rapids and into caves. Theron is serviceable as the ultra-fit prey who gives as good as she gets.<\/p>\n Directed by Baltasar Kormakur, who\u2019s become something of a specialist in nature\/survival films such as Everest and Adrift, Apex looks great (some obvious CGI aside), and has a frenetic pace when Ben and Sasha are on the move.<\/p>\n But there are too many clich\u00e9s and too few surprises. Both Sasha (steely resolve, tougher than she\u2019s given credit for) and Ben (mummy issues, loner) feel flatter than the face of the Troll Wall. If you\u2019re happy, though, with foothold-related tension and Solo Man<\/a>-style kayak action, get your aqua socks on and strap in.<\/p>\n Apex is streaming on Netflix from April 24.<\/p>\n Want more TV? We\u2019ve got you.Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Charlize](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/e6f9fd91605794ee68490be9a63342a9f8b44eaf.jpeg\")
Charlize Theron as rock climber Sasha in Apex.Kane Skennar\/NETFLIX \u00a9 2026<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d62edee806feaa6524358725dfe57b5186b1e813.jpeg\")
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Taron Egerton as Ben, who turns hunter, with Charlize Theron as Sasha, his prey.Kane Skennar\/NETFLIX<\/p>\n![\"Noah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0dd77859cabf507c176ff04983d47ed75c764785.jpeg\")
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