What's Inside?
- 'Don't Move' turns a simple paralysis-based premise into an intense real-time survival horror experience packed with tension.
- Kelsey Asbille delivers a gripping performance that carries the film’s emotional weight and psychological fear.
- Despite starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, 'Apex' feels more conventional compared to 'Don’t Move’s stripped-back suspense.
If you are looking for a survival thriller similar to Charlize Theron’s Apex, we’ve got a standout recommendation for you. It is Netflix’s Don’t Move. The 2024 Netflix horror thriller turns one of humanity’s most basic fears into a relentless cinematic experience.
A woman trapped in the wilderness loses control of her body while a killer closes in around her. The film’s simple setup becomes far more gripping than expected.
While Apex brings together stars like Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton for a tense survival chase across Australia, Don’t Move delivers sharper suspense and stronger emotional depth. Both films explore grief, isolation, and survival, but Don’t Move handles those themes with, well, a bit better.
Netflix’s 2024 Survival Horror ‘Don’t Move’ Is Actually Better Than Charlize Theron’s Apex
At first glance, the two films appear strikingly similar. Both centre on grieving women who head into remote wilderness areas seeking emotional escape before becoming targets in deadly survival games. The difference lies in execution. Don’t Move transforms a minimal premise into a suffocating psychological nightmare.
The film follows Iris, played by Kelsey Asbille, who encounters a stranger while hiking alone. Soon after, she is injected with a paralytic drug that slowly shuts down her nervous system. She has only minutes to escape before losing all movement. That ticking-clock structure gives every scene urgency.
Co-director Brian Netto described the story by saying, “[Don’t Move] is a story of a woman who finds herself in a situation where she’s struggling, she’s at a low point. All of a sudden, she finds herself dosed with a paralytic, and her body is going to slowly but surely shut down. Now she’s in a fight for her life.”
The film gains extra intensity from its near-real-time storytelling. Running for around 85 minutes, the movie unfolds almost minute by minute alongside Iris’ deteriorating condition.
Producer Sam Raimi admitted he initially worried the concept would not sustain tension. “The script asked our actor to be still for so many minutes in the movie, and I was afraid,” he explained. “I was concerned that the audience would become restless, but the directors handled it so well, it becomes more and more suspenseful.”
Critics responded positively to that approach. Don’t Move currently holds a strong 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, outperforming Charlize Theron’s Apex, which sits at 66%.
What Is ‘Don’t Move’ About?
Beyond the survival horror setup, Don’t Move works because it remains focused on its protagonist’s emotional collapse. Iris is not presented as an invincible action hero. She is grieving, vulnerable, exhausted, and terrified. The physical paralysis mirrors the emotional paralysis she already carries before the attack begins.
Asbille faced the challenge of portraying fear and desperation with limited physical movement. “The script lays out the stages of paralysis, but there’s an emotional experience and internal struggle that you have to convey, and you are so limited physically,” she said. “That was the challenge, and it was fun to figure it out together.”
Her co-star Finn Wittrock praised that performance, saying, “Kelsey had this incredible challenge, which was like she had to express so much with hardly any ability to use her body.”
Further, the film also avoids unnecessary subplots. Directors Netto and Adam Schindler keep tightening the pressure around Iris with every sequence. Schindler explained their approach clearly, “Every sequence we’re like, ‘OK, how do we make it tougher on her? How do you paint yourself into a corner? And then how do you get yourself out of that?’”
What Is ‘Apex’ About?
Apex follows a similar emotional framework but leans more heavily into traditional action-thriller territory. Theron stars as Sasha, a grieving mountain climber hunted through the Australian wilderness by a violent serial killer played by Taron Egerton.
Theron described the film as “an action-adventure, psychological thriller. It’s really a story about survival, not just physically but emotionally, and about finding out what you’re made of.”
Director Baltasar Kormákur emphasised the brutal physical nature of the production, praising Theron’s stunt work and endurance throughout filming.
Apex certainly delivers tense action and strong performances. Egerton especially embraces the disturbing nature of his character. “The extremity of the role really appealed to me,” he said. “There was something delicious and irresistible about it.”
Certainly, both movies are good, albeit far from matching the gripping intensity in comparison.
Don’t Move and Apex are streaming on Netflix.
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