The Apology
More Christmas fear than Christmas cheer.
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“The Apology” (available in select theaters and to stream on AMC+ and Shudder beginning Friday, Dec. 16) certainly isn’t the cheeriest of Christmas movies, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well worth a look.
“Deadwood” and “Breaking Bad” alumna Anna Gunn stars as Darlene Hagen, a recovering alcoholic whose daughter Sally (Holland Bailey) went missing 20 years prior. Sally’s disappearance torpedoed Darlene’s marriage to Ed, but forced her into sobriety. Darlene spent the bulk of these two decades not only looking for her daughter, but also assisted others in searching for their lost children.
It’s Christmas Eve and Darlene’s preparing to host her first holiday since Sally disappeared. Aiding Darlene in her preparations is her friend and neighbor Gretchen Sullivan (Janeane Garofalo). Once all of their Christmas cookies are baked and decorated, Gretchen departs for the evening and Darlene prepares for bed … only to be interrupted by a knock at her front door.
It’s Jack Kingsley (Linus Roache), Darlene’s sister’s ex-husband and her former brother-in-law. Jack comes bearing gifts … and a secret.
I don’t really want to say much more about the plot of “The Apology” as the story’s pretty simple and it’s best discovered by yourself. This is largely a single-location thriller that feels like it could’ve been a play. It’s most assuredly an assured feature writing and directorial debut from Alison Locke.
“The Apology” is very much a performance-based movie and Locke and her actors deserve a lot of credit for the lean, 91-minute proceedings working as well as they do. Gunn ably captures Darlene’s anger, decency, fear and sadness in equal measure and with great aplomb. Roache, an underrated actor and my favorite on-screen representation of Thomas Wayne via Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins,” gives a mercurial performance. My feelings about Jack alternated greatly throughout the course of the film, which is a testament to the strength of both Locke’s writing and Roache’s acting. Garofalo gifts the film some much-needed instances of levity. Locke in her scripting also manages to insert some subtle dark humor into these dire doings.
Christmas isn’t the happiest of time of the year for a lot of folks – so it stands to reason that there’s a holiday flick that trades far more in malice as opposed to mirth. “The Apology” isn’t a perfect film (Cell phones probably should’ve been more prevalent, but then this would’ve been a rather short movie.), but it’s a very good one thanks to the towering, volcanic performances of Gunn and Roache. Color me curious for whatever Locke does next too.