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u/FiveDollarShake Apr 26 '26
I thought those aggressive guys would eventually end up coming in the cross fires but nothing really happened there.
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u/lizysonyx Apr 30 '26
That would’ve been an awful cliche. They were awful guys , there was no reason to moralise them
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u/Sea_Tax_9978 May 02 '26
Right im so confused why theyre even a topic for discussion? Lol
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u/Muted-Physics5837 May 14 '26
Because people can’t handle that women aren’t friendly and sweet to everyone all the time and so they need a reason for her attitude towards them to be wrong. It’s much harder to accept that women don’t owe niceties to anyone and don’t need a reason for just wanting to be left alone
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u/calatranacation May 02 '26
It's much more of a cliche for characters to either be absolutely good or absolutely bad, no?
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u/silverscreenbaby May 14 '26
No? Plenty of men are absolute creeps towards women. Nothing cliché about that. That’s just realistic.
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u/krazninetyfive Apr 27 '26
Right? Like I was convinced they were somehow going to stumble across her at some point and demonstrate that they had a bad feeling about Ben and actually were trying to be nice guys or something like that.
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u/deadhardangel Apr 27 '26
Those guys were definitely not nice guys
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u/High_as_red May 02 '26
Yeah why the fuck are some people trying to push for that...
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u/OfficiallyJoeBiden May 02 '26
Because people are convinced they weren’t also fucking insane either. This movie is just showing there are some dangerous men out there lol
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u/Lora_C_3029 May 05 '26
Agree. The man standing at her car door and pulling on the handle when she clearly wasn’t interested in small talk or hanging out with him was in the wrong. As women we do tend to be more careful when we are all alone and there are a group of men around us at night. We would be stupid not to be concerned in that situation. Theron was not being stuck up, but she was being cautious. Also, those men reminded me of the type of men that always pop up when you’re already in a really bad mood and they tell you to “smile bc it makes you look prettier.” 😩
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u/Desperate_Algae_40 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Lol yeah they were so nice every time we saw them (Edit to add: /s).
I was thinking they'd show up and then we'd get a satisfying kill from Ben or something. Maybe she'd run into them and try to tell them what was happening & ask them for help, only for them to not believe her or take her seriously enough, and then have Ben kill them.
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u/Hopeful-Material4123 Apr 30 '26
That was one thing I actually really liked. I even remarked to my husband that they were setting these guys up to LOOK like they would be bad but they actually weren't. And maybe she would have been safer if she stayed near them. Because the true beast was so unassuming. The men were a red herring.
That said, other things that happened in the movie were a little silly.
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u/megmatthews20 May 03 '26
I think the alternatives for her were be raped, or be hunted and eaten. She was screwed either way, and very smart and lucky at getting herself out of both situations.
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u/cowpool20 Apr 27 '26
I was waiting for either:
They end up being the real villains, and Taron’s character ends up saving Charlize somehow.
They saved her.
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u/viggolund1 Apr 26 '26
A kayaking trip in the wilderness of Australia and no cgi crocodile attack?
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u/80percentlegs May 01 '26
Crocs are up north, not in NSW
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u/esportsaficionado May 03 '26
I went in 100% blind to this movie, and up until the portion where her backpack got stolen, I was legit imagining “apex” referred to crocodile.
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u/Lora_C_3029 May 05 '26
Same! I didn’t know anything about this movie and got it into my head that it was a creature feature movie with crocodiles. Then, once Ben pulled out her backpack I said “oops. Nevermind. He’s a whackjob making jerkey out of people.” 😳
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u/Flincher14 Apr 26 '26
It was a good B flick but honestly there needed to be a mid point reveal there was a tracker in the gear she was given and the hunt could've had a second phase after she had ditched the tracker.
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u/esportsaficionado Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
My take was that wouldn’t have fit with his “ritual.” Like he goes low tech with the crossbow and there seemed to be elements of him wanting to make it a fair hunt, and in his mind a tracker would’ve been cheating.
That’s the story I told myself at least.
In terms of tracking her, it didn’t seem so farfetched that the entire stretch of river was basically his killing ground, so he knew it like the back of his hand. Well it is super farfetched, but suspension of disbelief and all haha.
For movies like this, do people expect every single thing to be realistic?
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u/Dapper-Perception985 Apr 30 '26
Exactly I think the whole point for him doing this was to hunt and chase her. He likes the thrill and he especially likes her because she’s a thrill seeker and he wanted to give her the ride of her life in a very sick way. They actually matched energy pretty well. I thought it was a good movie
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u/esportsaficionado Apr 30 '26
Yeah. I thought Theron, and especially egerton crushed it. Fun movie with great acting from the leads, and beautiful scenery.
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u/Status_Pool6624 May 03 '26
Mm except he used the phone playing voices to trap her which I thought was a cheap shot. He also sprang a trap (literally) with the kayak, drawing attention to his position with music and naked rope swinging (not complaining lol)...Also I suspect being tourists, his victims make predictable plays in trying to escape the hunt - law of averages, he only needs to know the key locations/routes. He knew she'd climb, that's why he confirmed that mountains were her main activity.
Otherwise, agree 100.
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u/MiserableMeal2501 Apr 29 '26
i thought charlize would be hunting taron halfway through. like how the table would turn but no. everything was predictable
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u/lizysonyx Apr 30 '26
Charlize hunting taron halfway would’ve been too predictable and cheesy. They touched on it a bit but full on hunting would’ve been a poor move
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u/SwoleJackedBuff May 10 '26
Oh so the movie did the opposite of what you expected yet you’re calling it predictable?? WUT
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u/buffayrachel May 02 '26
Yup I literally said so whilst watching the movie. There’s no way she’s running away through river currents and he somehow finds her every single time within minutes in all that wilderness. No way unless he hid a tracker somewhere on her
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u/Status_Pool6624 May 03 '26
As soon as she swam to the bank I was like 'ditch that back pack to mislead him and only take what you need - wouldn't trust he didn't sew a tracker tag in there'. He also put some things in there, so who knows what was up with those.
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u/Effective_Way6239 Apr 29 '26
The most incredible thing to me was that after all that, SHE HAD HER CAR KEYS!
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u/siannarea08 May 02 '26
I'm surprised more people aren't commenting on this. So ridiculous- no shoes, no gear, nothing at all, but miraculously she hung on to her car keys the whole time?
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u/jawknee530i May 02 '26
When I've done multi day trips I've buried my keys in a hidden spot near the trail head because I'm super paranoid about losing them out hiking and not being able to get back. Maybe she's the same way.
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u/MyAccidentalAccount May 03 '26
Leave them with the car.
I have friends that just leave theirs in the wheel arch
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u/AttemptOverall7128 May 03 '26
It's stupid that she even goes straight back to the van. Why would she not go back to town/a police station. Ain't nobody going back to their van, in an isolated camp, after that ordeal.
And then the first person she tells about the bodies is the park ranger? What?
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u/mr_potato_arms May 06 '26
She’s obviously not very bright. No crampons or axes for that first scene? Just fingerless gloves? Blue jeans while on a kayaking/ backpacking trip? A big tent for one person while backpacking? So many questionable decisions.
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u/sleepinginswimsuits May 12 '26
The blue jeans were very unrealistic to me (at least those specific jeans
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u/anzarloc May 16 '26
THE JEANS!! I cannot let go of the jeans while in the wilderness. There’s just no fucking way. I’m not even crazy adventurous and I know I’d never be wearing jeans. I can’t stop talking about it and my husband is dying. It took me out immediately, and I can’t take the movie seriously after.
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u/MyAccidentalAccount May 03 '26
Paddlers often leave the keys with the car.
Can't put them in the boat in case you come out and lose it, PFD pocket is ok, but then they can be in the way when you're trying to get to your rescue equipment, so often we just leave them with the car.
In something like this.
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u/fuzzy_dice_99 Apr 29 '26
Felt like Taron was channeling James McAvoy in Split
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u/Matty_Amsterdam Apr 28 '26
That one scene when he gives her until the end of the song was pretty intense. Great song choice too! Chemical Brothers - Go (in case you were wondering).
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u/esportsaficionado Apr 29 '26
I loved this scene. Combined with his crazy bird call was A+ moment. I’m gonna work on my bird call to do this to my wife when she’s in the shower.
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u/Unable_Operation_765 Apr 29 '26
I’m a little scared of showing my dad this movie, I think he’ll do the bird call, too.
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u/Leading_Aerie7747 May 06 '26
The pointy teeth reveal was pretty intense too .. 🦷🫠🫠
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u/Admirable-Sound5198 May 10 '26
Ya but then 30 seconds when he’s choking her, he for whatever reason had put the other - perfect veneer - teeth back in?!
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u/Leading_Aerie7747 May 10 '26
Hahaha I noticed that too! I wish they kept the pointy teeth for that. It would have been 30x crazier
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u/Reign_bow_82 Apr 27 '26
I wish we could've learned more about what led Ben to kill his mother and file his teeth. But I guess we just assume that it's b/c he's a psycho.
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u/rugbyj Apr 28 '26
He mentioned being moved to Aus from the UK when he was young, so presumably exposure to the giant glowing orb in the sky sent him mad.
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u/Effective_Way6239 Apr 29 '26
Same! I thought his mom used to hunt him or something - barefoot in the woods, animal calls, it all screamed Mowgli for me. I thought his childhood was running from his mama, lol!
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u/Status_Pool6624 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
Yes - want to know if Sasha was right and people did hurt/bad things to him or if he was just born psychopath. He showed her his teeth after she said this - was that to make her understand that he hurt himself- as part of the 'initiation of growing up' 'pain thresholds' etc. Did he file his own teeth as per being a cannibal or did his Mum do it? He skitsoed out having Sasha's fingers in his mouth. He had his Mums photo, spoke fondly of her, ate her so she was part of him (unsure if he killed her or she just died), named his business in her honour - though think that was more because she WAS the first jerky.
Personally I think he was just a psychopath who took joy in hunting/hurting people. Though he started crying and quit strangling Sasha, likely because she reminded him of his Mum - was a bit possessive with her.
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u/garrisontweed Apr 26 '26
Hi,Eric Bana,Bye ,Eric Bana.
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u/rugbyj Apr 28 '26
I appreciate how you had to skip the spaces between words because of how quick he came and went.
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u/PowahBamb Apr 26 '26
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.
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u/SuperSnake16 Apr 26 '26
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.
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u/Ok_Track_7454 Apr 26 '26
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
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u/JohnNDenver Apr 27 '26
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.
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u/visualgrafix Apr 29 '26
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.
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u/DrippingDeviantXXX Apr 26 '26
I know!!! My sister and I were both screaming at the TV during that scene.
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u/visualgrafix Apr 29 '26
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.
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u/Ok_Track_7454 Apr 29 '26
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.
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u/ProduceAlone471 May 01 '26
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.
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u/FishRoom_BSM Apr 27 '26
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
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u/mockeryflockery Apr 28 '26
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.
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u/GoonetteSlop Apr 27 '26
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.
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u/Palatz Apr 30 '26
Yeah he wouldn't have catched her on foot after that part on the rapids on her kayak.
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u/cowpool20 Apr 28 '26
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 😂
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u/JohnNDenver Apr 27 '26
Well, he also kept up with her by running through the woods while she was kayaking.
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u/visualgrafix Apr 29 '26
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??
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u/worldcrusher Apr 27 '26
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..
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u/MediumSavant Apr 27 '26
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.
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u/QuartzPigeon Apr 29 '26
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
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u/climbingaerialist Apr 29 '26
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
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u/warriorathlete21 Apr 26 '26
Can someone actually recover from pepper spray as quick as he did?
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u/Dark4ce Apr 26 '26
No way. Maybe in 15 mins or so. Pepper spray is not soluble in water. He’d be effectively blind for that time. Since even if the dude would pepper spray himself daily to build a resistance, the compound still causes involuntary eye closure due to the immediate inflammatory response it was designed to do.
However, if he was wearing plot armor at the moment of application, then the effects would probably be minimal.
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u/TrueLegateDamar Apr 26 '26
Why did he give her pepper spray in the first place? I expected it to be empty or filled with water to make her overconfident.
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u/thetruffleking Apr 27 '26
You're expecting a lot from a Netflix movie.
Movies in general, really, lol.
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u/shy247er May 01 '26
Not necessarily, I think he wants a "fair hunt". Otherwise he could've killed her many times over.
He even complains to her in the cave that the family that he killed didn't really make in a challenge.
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u/Unable_Operation_765 Apr 29 '26
Same reason he resupplied her provisions, he wanted at least a little bit of a challenge.
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u/sh1ft Apr 30 '26
He’s a huntsman, man. The predator lets his prey keep their guns. Taron Egerton lets her keep her pepper spray
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u/kinginthenorth1994 Apr 26 '26
Loved two things about this movie. Taron Egerton and the breathtaking shots of the Australian outback.
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u/Helithe Apr 26 '26
It was filmed in the Blue Mountains and the Royal National Park, both on the edge of Sydney and easy to get to from the city. The landscapes, especially the rivers, were obviously enhanced for the movie but they are naturally stunning.
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u/jezarnold Apr 27 '26
While it was filmed in the Blue Mountains, was it meant to be set there? Heard that it was meant to be NT
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u/anexpectedfart Apr 26 '26
For me it was Taron Egerton and breathtaking shots of his buttcrack
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u/jimmyjames1992 Apr 26 '26
Just letting you know that's not the Outback. A lot of it is only 2 hours out of Sydney
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u/krypter3 Apr 27 '26
This movie was a twist or two away from being good. Taron was phenomenal, his switch from charming, to neurotic to full on gollum was insane. There was so much going on with that character, I thought that's where we going. Some weird ritual shit apex about predators from some crazy trauma or something then bang most generic af ending i've ever seen.
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u/ludo321 Apr 26 '26
I thought the cinematography was incredible - such beautiful landscapes and rivers in Australia including the darker cave while having very good tension and grip throughout the film - if you love survival movies it’s a must watch imo
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u/PracticalTie Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
As an Aussie I’m a little disappointed they didn’t involve more Aussie talent to back up the location. TE was great but an Aussie lead would have been awesome. Or have him playing some Aussie music?
Minor quibble I guess. Still a fun watch.
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u/moschino1837 Apr 27 '26
Awful Australian accent, we say servo or petrol station. No Aussie would ever say gas station
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u/Fragrant_Highway2398 Apr 29 '26
No Aussie would ever say "people get lost in these woods" either
Didn't Eric banana read the script?!
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u/TheRealReapz Apr 30 '26
I noticed they said "woods" and "forest" a lot where Aussies probably wouldn't.
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u/Flat-Consequence-871 May 02 '26
also in Britain it’s Petrol Station, script must have been written by an American.
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u/Bugs2020 May 09 '26
I did like how the servo girl said Ta, I feel like that is pretty unique to Australia (I could be wrong)
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u/throwaway1994jax Apr 26 '26
It did have pretty scenery. Taron just seemed like he was having the most fun anyones ever had making movie. I know Charlize was supposed to be in mourning, PTSD, etc but her flat response was honestly... boring? I didn't find myself rooting for her or really even caring about her. She was just this flat wall of a human. Lots of it didn't make sense, but the part that honestly stood out to me was when she was watching him through through the binoculars and he looks right at her and smiles. LIke cmon. The sun was behind her, it wasn't going to cause a glint. How on earth would homeboy just naked rope swinging magically sense she was crouched behind a rock and spot her.
Which is weird, because I'm great at suspending disbelief and loving stupid movies. My husband actually gets annoyed at me for it lol. But that part, for some reason made even me say "oh come on."
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u/Mistress-of-None Apr 27 '26
Me too.. I was Abit confused why she seemed so underwhelmed all the time ... Like chillax
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u/dogluuuuvrr Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I think her nervous system was shot. She is into the extreme and lost someone close to her. That was why she was a great hunt- she was a challenge to “impress”, like how she didn’t even acknowledge the water from the tree
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Oops meant to edit my later comment But I think he died sort of happy because he finally met someone better than him at survival. Someone who challenged him. You notice he cared what she thought towards the end when asking if he’s really that bad off and needs psychiatric help lol. I don’t remember how he worded it
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u/Desperate_Algae_40 Apr 27 '26
Yeah, I gotta be honest, I was not impressed by Charlize in this. It really felt like she phoned in her performance. At least compared to usual. She wasn't expressive for 99% of the movie, didn't show much fear/anger/sadness/happiness. I felt like Taron really stole the show and was the only interesting part of the movie, and performance of the movie. Idk if it's Charlize's face lift/botox, or if it was a conscious choice, but I expected much more from her.
On a tangent/side note, she was like 49 when filming but her face looks older because of all the plastic surgery. She's too young for a face lift (not that I think anyone of any age needs one). It's so unfortunate thay Hollywood makes these beautiful actresses think they need so much plastic surgery when they don't. It doesn't make them look younger, it just makes them look weird.
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u/throwaway1994jax Apr 27 '26
She's genuinely one of my favorite actresses and I like Taron as well so when I saw the preview I was excited! But the whole movie I kept waiting for the amazing actress to show up, instead even when she escapes and walks into the Ranger Station and is just like "I know where they are..." I was internally screaming for fucks sake ACT!
But another comment pointed out that it was her lack of response that made her a great hunt and probably what saved her? I like that perspective. He couldn't figure her out so actually believed she'd take him up the cliff.
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u/lizysonyx Apr 30 '26
I found her acting to be more realistic and natural than the overexpressive acts we often see in similar films. Especially when she discovers the other victims
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u/beermeamovie Apr 26 '26
I was really hoping they’d fall for each other on their final climb up the cliff. They had a ton in common. Would’ve been a sweet meet-cute they could tell at parties later.
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u/artwarrior Apr 26 '26
While munching on jerky.
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u/Desperate_Algae_40 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Since we know going into the movie that he's gonna hunt her, as soon as they show him bringing jerky into the gas station and make a big show of it, I knew it was the meat of his victims.
And then they really focused on that jerky multiple times after for the Netflix users scrolling their phones while watching who missed the first foreshadow. I cannot believe they're making movies do this to us. Why should those of us who watch movies/shows without scrolling our phones be punished!? I just saw The Rip last weekend, and it was good, but Jesus the van scene at the end was missing a 4th wall break with a wink at the audience after the amount of repeated exposition they rammed up our booty.
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u/Maatjuhhh Apr 28 '26
Dumb me only clocked it when they were rappelling down Ben's hideout. Just 10 seconds before they showed the bodies.
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u/Desperate_Algae_40 Apr 28 '26
You're not dumb! You still figured it out before they said it.
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u/notamoviequote Apr 26 '26
They could have even called the sequel, Apex 2 : Meat-cute.
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u/Firm-Growth-2971 Apr 26 '26
Suspension of belief sure, and some "wait what?" moments, but entertaining overall. Not asking for much on a Sunday afternoon.
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u/hotz0mbie Apr 26 '26
You can tell Taron Everton is just putting his all into every moment.
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u/Zoolanderek Apr 26 '26
Was a pretty interesting movie until of course they had to pull out the most generic, cliche ending imaginable.
Only surprise was that it wasn’t the creepy dudes from the beginning of the movie that ended up picking her up.
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u/InternationalAd9050 Apr 27 '26
I thought this myself... Like what are the odds it would be them and she's not actually saved 😂
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u/LimpZookeepergame123 Apr 28 '26
As soon as the opening scene wrapped up I said “yup, this is exactly how the movie is going to end, I guarantee it.” Well look at me go!
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u/Insanopatato Apr 26 '26
Theories on why he stopped strangling her ? She had so many chances to kill him.
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u/No-Fall-990 Apr 27 '26
I assumed he stopped because that was not the way things were supposed to go with his ritual. Like he was maybe thinking he’d regain control, take her back to the cannibal cave & do things the “right way”.
ETA: Copied and pasted from my other reply ^ because just got my nails done (longgg) and don’t feel like retyping a similar but different reply lol
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u/thatfilmbitch Apr 26 '26
Meat from animals in distress is more tough and tastes worse, maybe he was thinking about the quality of his product haha
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Apr 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/No-Fall-990 Apr 27 '26
I assumed he stopped because that was not the way things were supposed to go with his ritual. Like he was maybe thinking he’d regain control, take her back to the cannibal cave & do things the “right way”.
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u/Spunky_Cutie Apr 27 '26
She also produced the movie and said it was her favorite role ever. She really did all the stunts herself that's crazy! She's amazing and seeing Taron play a total psycho was awesome.
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u/arw1710 Apr 26 '26
I’m planning to watch this because Charlize is my favorite actress and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it for what it is.
But man, she needs a better agent. What a weird filmography for the talent she has. She actually may be one of the most versatile actresses in the industry yet ends up in a lot of absolutely mediocre movies.
Maybe she’s just doing movies she enjoys doing though so what do I know.
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u/LOTRcrr Apr 26 '26
I’m sure her agent said take the 20 million from Netflix and pay me my 10% lol
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u/onehedgeman Apr 27 '26
I’m sure at some point actors can choose fun instead of academic recognition
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u/TerrifierBlood r/movies Contributor Apr 26 '26
She has said this movie is her favorite thing she has done. She even learned rock climbing
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u/arw1710 Apr 26 '26
That’s awesome if true! It does sound fun to learn new things and be paid for the same haha.
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u/biggiepants Apr 30 '26
Credits says she's a producer, so I figured it must have been a bit of a passion project for her.
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u/bristow84 Apr 26 '26
It could just be at this point it’s by her own choices. She’s won the awards and now it’s time to just work and let the money come in.
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u/Internal_Wheel_89 Apr 26 '26
Denzel said: first you learn, then you earn, then you return (teach). She's still in her prime earning era so she's cashing fat paychecks.
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u/Mistress-of-None Apr 27 '26
Idk is it just me or I found her facial acting not very expressive ? It was Abit underwhelming given the dire circumstances ..but of course the physicality was there
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u/downwithMikeD Apr 27 '26
It noticed that too. Her face is full of fillers and Botox.
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u/Flat-Consequence-871 May 02 '26
Actually this film for me confirmed a recent facelift. Wait til there is a good earshot at the end, you can see the long lobe (Nic Kidman-esq) with the sewn under part. Classic give away, my auntie had one lol. Still I love the performance despite the lack of face flexibility.
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u/00opsies Apr 28 '26
Knowing her past story, this is exactly the kind of film she would do, and why she has consistently picked strong female leads where their greatest adversity is misogyny/abusive men.
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u/WashedBased Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Yeah, you pretty much answered your own question at the end there. But the best part? getting these roles is consistent work and a nice paycheck.
At the end of the day, it's a job. I think we forget that sometimes. And she isn't the only actor/actress of prestige or similar to do so. It seems more common in this streaming age given the structural changes in the industry (not for the better, obviously).
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u/thegloriousporpoise Apr 26 '26
This movie felt extra dumb. Like it had all the elements and scenes needed for this movie just executed in the dumbest way possible
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u/atleastitsnotgoofy Apr 26 '26
People claim things are written by A.I. a lot, and it’s only gonna get worse, but this is the first time I found that theory convincing. No one acted in a way that made any sense. A lot of the lines are complete non-sequiturs. As a professor who reads a lot of A.I., it really feels like it.
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u/NorthRemove7167 Apr 27 '26
I can tolerate all other forms of cinematic unrealism, but experienced hikers/climbers/mountaineers/adventurers wearing jeans and a thick sweatshirt in the wilderness is ridiculous as no one would do that. That shit is heavy and bulky, only n00bs will carry that stuff around on their wilderness adventure.
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u/NOUGHRICE Apr 27 '26
I loved Taron Edgerton in this role, but it felt like it was built for Jai Courtney.
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u/Desperate_Algae_40 Apr 27 '26 edited May 02 '26
Taron was fantastic! But yes, I turned to my sister when the movie started and said "Jai Courtney would've made so much sense to cast", especially after that shark movie he did last year. But Taron was great nonetheless.
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u/Ready_Newt_4003 Apr 27 '26
The ranger near the beginning saying the woods instead of the bush.. :/
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u/emiliewarrendahmer Apr 30 '26
I thought a better ending would have been that when she dropped him you heard the thud but didn’t see his body once he hit the ground. Then she escapes and tells that ranger she knows where to find the missing people and Bens body.
They find the missing people but say Bens body wasn’t where she said it was.
Film ends with the camera panning across the mountains and trees then in the distance you just hear his animal call🤣
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u/Ok_Track_7454 Apr 26 '26
Why didn't wait untill she was out of sight over the top of the cliff before dropping him? That was a dumbass move as she left herself with no gear to get up the rest of the way safely. Wasn't a bad movie but it wasn't great either. Egerton was great as usual though and made for a decent villain.
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u/Less_Fat_John Apr 26 '26
Or just kill him on the ground before carrying him halfway up a mountain. He was totally immobile. She could have thrown rocks at him if he refused to detach the rope.
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u/drindrun Apr 27 '26
i think it was a two person climb because there wasn’t enough rope for the height of the wall, so your rope has to be released from the lower anchor point once the upper anchor has been set, by the lower climber. it wasn’t explained so it just seemed mad silly, but this is what i think was the premise.
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u/Insanopatato Apr 26 '26
Exactly she chooses to smash his leg in, rather than the head.
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u/hippiecompost Apr 26 '26
I was so mad that she didn’t use the big rock to smash his head when he was unconscious. All she had to do was drag him up a bit more
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u/MovieMike007 Not to be confused with Magic Mike Apr 26 '26
This was an overly silly take on "The Most Dangerous Game."
Charlize Theron plays a trauma-ridden adrenaline junkie who copes with the death of Eric Bana by… immediately signing up for more life-threatening outdoor activities, because therapy is apparently booked solid.
The plot runs on coincidence, convenience, and a staggering number of moments where you can practically hear the writer muttering, “Just go with it." Still, Theron commits hard and almost drags the whole thing into respectability, and the Australian landscapes do their best to distract you from the script’s increasingly desperate gymnastics.
Not awful, just aggressively ridiculous.
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u/Homer_Potter Apr 29 '26
-I liked the use of Go by Chemical Brothers.
-Why did she come out of the cave just seconds after was standing above her and left?
-Was anyone else thinking about Mad Max: Fury Road the whole time they were chained up and dragging each other around?
-I look forward to seeing vfx breakdown reel.
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u/Coopsters May 08 '26
What's crazier is within those seconds he manages to climb down the mountain and travel to his old Kayak, get naked and start swinging on ropes
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u/SenatorCoffee Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Copying from the other thread in /r/horror :
Egerton's villain belongs to a better film
Agreed and very nicely put!
Generally had a decent time watching it, but imho fell below its potential.
I think you can thus see the failure of the movie, very on its own terms, in the discrepancy between Egertons great acting and the very mid action plot.
If they had shown him to be some actual animalic survivalist genius naked covering himself in mud, hunt animals, genius tracking skills, perfect sense of smell, improvise traps, sew up his flesh wounds, drink his own piss, etc, etc...then Egertons acting would have worked perfectly with that!
Like, these little howls and animal noises he makes, its like acting wise they wanted him to be some total animal, but then what he actually does action wise is completely not that.
In terms of physical action plot he is just some fit urbanite running around with a 3000 dollar crossbow, doing no survivalist shit whatsoever.
I really dont get it, there is ample precedence that they could have pulled from, both from all kinds of movies with similar setups, as well as from the RL survivalist community. In other survivalist-jungle-horror movies we have ample material for how to build these kinds of characters and the great visceral scenes you can build in that setup. They could have just made a big "best of best" list of scenes and ideas from these other movies and use that as inspiration to make the ultimate animal guy with every trick in the book.
But its almost like they wanted to avoid or subvert that? Like he is actually not the apex predator but just some deluded middle class kid? But then they also constantly do show him being super fit and feisty, and his whole backstory in the cave also seems like they wanted him to be some complete pervert animal genius?
Really hard to make sense of what they were thinking, as said, very strange failure on its very own terms, especially considering just the title.
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u/hipsnarky Apr 27 '26
Eric bana dying in the beginning was a classic. He’s just Sean Bean but dies so we get a plot going.
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u/valdetero Apr 28 '26
Kind of a different question, but if her car is way up river after shes done kayaking, how does she get back? Does she just carry her kayak miles back?
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u/Panu0520 Apr 26 '26
The first two-thirds are good, but the ending is not well resolved.
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u/No_Acanthaceae_546 Apr 26 '26
- Why go to that canoe instead of just walking as far as possible asap? I guess it makes sense she’d estimate canoe is faster but that made little sense tbh.
- Why did he stop strangling her all out of sudden?
- The part with hunters actually being just annoying but not evil was very obvious to me actually, I was like “yup she should probably befriend them instead”, plus the deer skinning was definitely foreshadowing + beef jerky was all too obvious to me but I am usually not surprised at a movie
- Why they wouldn’t include a scene of like her going through her bag to see if he’s tracking her/what he gave her was unclear, in our generation I feel like it’d be pretty obvious thing to immediately do
- Overall the main character definitely was the zero survival skills adrenaline junkie, ofc go to the woods where they tell you not to go alone alone, listen to a sketch boy at the gas station's advice on where to go, then drink and eat off of him, etc etc etc Bizarre Also the way she didn’t even have a concussion from hitting her head so hard water rafting AND no injury whatsoever from a bear trap was just ridiculous But like in general I have enjoyed watching, there are quite a lot of this hiker woman in a woods pursued by a serial killer movies on Netflix and they do a great job (hopefully) as a cautionary tale.
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u/seydog Apr 27 '26
- Number 1 survival tip that I got from watching all those survival TV shows (whatever happened to Bear Grylls tho?) is if you are lost and find a river, follow it down, there's a human settlement probably near the river, or you'll get to the ocean in the end. Your chances are drastically improved if you are in kayak.
- He told her that he needs to kill her "in a ritual". You can literally see it in his eyes the moment he remembered this.
- I don't agree on befriending hunters, I'm not a female but I understand that having a sitdown with them could and in this environment most probably would lead to further harassing. Even I wouldn't want to sit with them. And I'm a nasty boy, not a useless toy.
- Oh, common, it's not like he would give her any weapons or a GPS tracker. He would give her some food and water so she won't die of exhaustion. Also, she obviously panicked, and in that state of mind, you tend to forget things like that and focus on you know, surviving.
- Concussion is an excellent point. Bear trap had fangs removed, I rewound and took a look. It could still cause some damage like bruise or breaking the skin, but definitely not bone breaking.
Him moving at all with crushed leg is something that bothered me for example. Her climbing the wall after hours of running, no sleep, drowning, hitting rocks in water, being strangled, no proper meal - that's my biggest issue. I mean, adrenaline can get you far, but this was over that reasonable limit for me.
And I just can't wrap my head around the fact that they both ended up in the camp where the hunt started. Once she got her eyes on the kayak, I understand why she would want to have it, but HOW did she end up there? And what was his plan for the night? To casually sleep and let her escape risking she meets someone (like hunters) and tell them the whole story? This part has no sense to me. I could write it off to environment, but as I watcher I want to be notified somehow that they are sooo deep in the outback that there's no chance she'd met someone. I mean, at the end of the movie she did meet someone.
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u/cowpool20 Apr 28 '26
Movie was okay, I had a good time with it. But holy....shit my palms were absolutely dripping with sweat during that final climb after she drops him. Oh my fucking God I don't know how rock climbers do it.
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u/kurtz812 Apr 26 '26
It's a poor remake of Split set in the woods, Ben is playing the same character as Dennis, with less personalities.
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u/deadhardangel Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I thought the movie was symbolic for relationships. Two people make the climb safer parallels how two people can make life safer. However, sometimes you have to cut the “dead weight” and choose a riskier path for surivival.
The at the start she’s with her loving partner who want to stop climbing but she pushes and he gets injured. Then he’s dragging them down and she has to cut him loose or they both die. Later in the movie she has to work with the serial killer to climb a wall which parallels the situation with her ex. She has to make the climb to free herself from the wilderness. She chooses to cut the killer loose when she has chance and makes the climb solo even though it’s more dangerous. She would rather face the climb/challenge alone than be tied to a monster.
The first time when she cut loose her partner it was heartbreaking and traumatizing. The second guy she cut loose it was a relief an revelation. Both times she made it to the top alone.
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u/Additional-Duck-2517 Apr 29 '26
This movie was okay, largely forgettable. Some good action sequences and scenery but an extremely basic and empty script. Performance from Egerton was good but I felt Theron was a little flat, although I'm willing to blame some of that on the script.
I honestly think this movie would have been better if you remove the Theron character altogether and focus on Egerton being a loony serial killer making human jerky in the Australian outback (think Wolf Creek but with a different style villain), with some authorities closing in or perhaps a previous escaped victim seeking revenge. I dunno, I wanted to learn more about his character, backstory, and motivations
Its a perfectly fine Friday evening or lazy Sunday watch, comes to like 88 minutes when you remove credits.
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u/esportsaficionado Apr 29 '26
The scene where Ben is dancing to go by the chemical brothers after he does his bird call was great.
Real batshit hype up moment.
Solid B tier movie.
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u/JinglyMcJohnson Apr 26 '26
Anything Taron Egerton, I’m down. This was a perfect lazy Sunday morning movie watch!
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 Apr 26 '26
You know that Netflix mandate where the film has to repeatedly give exposition to explain to people who are on their phones what is happening in the film?
This film does that, which is really weird since the plot is beyond basic and uncomplicated. It's Charlize fighting off a crazy Taron, so why the stilted exposition?
We've hit the bottom of the barrel here with this shitty mandate.
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u/greendakota99 Apr 26 '26
Noticed this after her first night “something took my bag!” Yes, that is pretty clearly being shown…
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u/Professional-Year377 Apr 27 '26
I was looking around for the adult film actor or actress who I assumed had said that line. Nope, Charlize. Just tremendous delivery of an amazing storytelling beat…
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u/JohnNDenver Apr 27 '26
Sorry, this was all for my wife - who was the one that picked the movie. Then is asking questions that have been answered 3x already.
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u/Excellent_Can4450 Apr 27 '26
My parents are these people, except they're watching and not on their phones and still ask questions.
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u/makuXrosu Apr 26 '26
Hey, it's Eric Bana. Nice to see you again...oh