The Apology Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

The Apology Blu-ray Movie Review

Hell hath no fury.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 5, 2024

In a perfectly clear case of "your mileage may vary", one look at the difference in score between my take on Alison Locke's The Apology and Brian Orndorf's theatrical review shows that only one of us really liked the movie... and to be honest, my comparative 5/10 is being pretty generous. It's a film that plays like the lesser inverse of George Sluizer's 1988 masterpiece The Vanishing: both main characters want to know the truth about a horrific crime against a family member no matter the cost, but The Apology dwells on the details rather than keeping them a mystery.

The setup of The Apology and its resultant plot couldn't be simpler, and in hindsight that's my main problem with this three-person thriller. It opens on a snowy night as Christmas approaches, where recovering alcoholic Darlene Hagen (Anna Gunn) has a chat with her neighbor Gretchen (Janeane Garofalo) about dreading the stress of hosting family dinner. After Gretchen departs in the middle of a blinding storm, Darlene considers picking up a bottle of vodka... but she's interrupted by a knock at the door, which turns out to be an unexpected visitor in her former brother-in-law Jack (Linus Roach), whose truck broke down on his way to surprise her with a holiday visit. Initially taken aback by Jack's sudden appearance, the two soon warm up to one another and rekindle what seem be old feelings for one another -- feelings that gradually faded over the last two decades when Darlene's sixteen-year old daughter Sally went missing. Clearly still distraught and unable to give up her search for Sally's whereabouts, Darlene is absolutely shocked when Jack eventually admits to knowing a lot -- a lot -- more about the situation then she originally thought.

To fully expose this family secret would do a disservice to The Apology... though to be honest it's revealed fairly early on, and in a lot of ways that takes the wind out of its sails almost immediately. What I first described as a three-person thriller is actually two during the bulk of its 92-minute runtime (Gretchen is only in the brief opening scene but returns much later), which means the rest of it is a fairly limp game of cat and mouse that's loaded with exposition delivered in a very uneven manner; one so intent on digging through every ounce of detail in its central mystery that nothing is left to the imagination. Truth be told, he real culprit here is writer/director Alison Locke's script, which obviously could have used a tighter re-write or two and features more than a few lines that even a top-tier performance couldn't completely salvage. Speaking of performances, Anna Gunn and Linus Roach seem to be on different planes here; neither deliver their best work by a long shot, and Garofalo's small role sees the reliable actor running circles around both of them. It all adds up to a fairly underwhelming experience -- there are bright spots sprinkled throughout and the subject matter shows promise, but as a whole The Apology sounds like something we should be owed for watching it.

But again, your mileage may vary with this one. I'm usually pretty patient with heavily dialogue-driven affairs and actually find most closed-quarters films, thriller or otherwise, to be working with an advantage. But whatever good will or charm (for lack of a better word) that The Apology might actually have, the magic was lost on me -- it quite literally felt like, well, amateur night. The film's outlook on home video is at least a little rosier, but not by much: I had a few nagging issues with RLJ Entertainment's 1080p transfer and the extras are almost completely absent.

The Apology Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Apology takes place in a rural home in the middle of a fierce December snowstorm... so despite the presence of holiday decor, it's unavoidably a dark film thanks to intermittent power outages. The problem with RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray is that it doesn't always do well with darkness, with sporadic levels of black crush and posterization crippling some of its more shadowy scenes and locations. (The opening overhead shot, for example, renders most of the distant pine tress as a mushy mess, and the less said about the fake-looking snowstorm, the better.) It's not all bad news, with some of the lower lighting and stronger compositions bringing out an appropriately foreboding sense of atmosphere, but tighter disc encoding would've almost certainly helped to remedy some of the more noticeable compression-related issues. Scenes with brighter values, either pockets of strong light or more even sources, obviously fare a bit better, but only on a few occasions does fine detail flirt with impressive levels. Colors are well-represented with accurate skin tones and good contrast between warm and cool tones throughout. Overall, there's clearly some room for improvement, but on small to mid-sized displays you may not notice some of the Blu-ray's occasionally nagging issues.

The Apology Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix fares a little better in direct comparison, offering a "gets the job done" presentation without carving out any kind of new sonic territory for the genre. As such, dialogue is mostly placed squarely up front with occasional separation as well as light rear channel presence depending on character location or room size, while rare trips outdoors add a bit off blustery appeal to the comparatively more quiet interiors. The mostly slow-burn original score by Uèle Lamore offers sporadic highlights, although I really wasn't a fan of the closing-credits cover of "Auld Lang Syne" as sung in cursive by a presumably annoying indie band. All told, though, it's a solid audio mix that occasionally adds to the film's modest levels of suspense and seems suited well for the home theater experience.

Optional English (SDH), French, and Spanish subtitles are offered during the main feature only.

The Apology Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and an insert. Extras are minimal.

• The Making of The Apology (5:34) - This bite-sized promotional piece features Anna Gunn, Linus Roache, Janeane Garafolo, and writer/director Alison Locke, who offer a few thoughts on their characters and the story with supportive clips from the finished film. Worth a quick look, but it's nothing special.

The Apology Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Interesting subject matter, decent cinematography, a very small cast of characters -- these are all positive elements inherent to Alison Locke's The Apology, but a rough script and mostly uneven performances all but sink the ship. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers so-so technical merits and next to no bonus features, so it's obviously for established fans only despite the studio's traditionally low price point. With that said, your mileage may vary.