'Apex' Ending, Explained: Does Charlize Theron Survive?
A grieving woman is pushed to her limits in Apex (2026). Starring alongside Charlize Theron in the Baltasar Kormákur-directed film is Taron Egerton. Theron plays Sasha, a woman on a solo adventure in the Australian forest, while Egerton plays the cunning killer who thinks she’s prey.
If you want to watch the movie on Netflix, but desperately need to know how Apex ends, we’ve got you covered, including whether Charlize Theron’s character survives.
WARNING: Major spoilers for Netflix’s Apex ahead!
Before we talk about how Apex ends, why Ben tried to kill Sasha, or if we’re getting a sequel, we have to set the stage.
Apex opens up with Theron waking up in a portalage, a sleeping tent on a vertical mountainside. Accompanying her is her partner Tommy, played by Eric Bana. After some back-and-forth, they head up the mountain, and viewers discover that the mountain’s lip is a challenge that Sasha cannot overcome.
When bad weather hits, they decide to climb down the mountain. Unfortunately, rocks shift, injuring Tommy. To save herself, she lets him go, and he dies. Flash-forward five months, and Sasha is solo camping in Australia’s Wandarra National Park, where she encounters the creepy locals and Ben at a general store.
Ben directs her to a hidden gem in the park. She follows his directions, encounters the creepy locals again and ends up having her bag stolen after some kayaking. When she meets Ben in the forest again, he offers to help and then reveals that he stole her bag and that she has until the end of the song he’s playing to get as far away from him as possible, so he can hunt her down.
What Happened At The End Of ‘Apex’?
After chasing Sasha through the Australian wilderness and capturing her, Ben leads her handcuffed to a hidden cave. Inside, Ben shows that he has been hunting other hikers. Four of those hikers just so happen to be the family that Ben used to lure Sasha out during the hunt when he played a video of them on a phone, leading her to believe there was salvation nearby.
Ben goes on to terrify Sasha by revealing that he has filed his teeth down to sharp points and that the jerky Sasha bought earlier is actually from the people he’s killed. When it’s Sasha’s turn, he also reveals his custom salt brine and that his mother was his first victim.
Sasha ends up biting a chunk of Ben’s ear off and escapes. But because she’s still handcuffed, he manages to clip the lead tied to the cuffs to himself, making it so that wherever she goes, he follows. They end up going over a waterfall and having a fight where she breaks his leg. Trapped, injured, and with no food, Sasha makes a deal with Ben to climb the rock face out of the valley they’re in as a means of survival.
Ben promises that he won’t kill Sasha if she doesn’t mess with the rope that connects them. Of course, Sasha tries to escape, leading to some harrowing moments where you think that Sasha will end up dead, just like Tommy. Eventually, Sasha manages to free herself, and Ben falls to his death. Then, Sasha overcomes her final fears when it comes to climbing and makes it out.
She eventually returns to the ranger station where she initially saw missing posters at the beginning of the movie, and says she knows where the missing are. Her report leads to 20 bodies being discovered in the cave, and the movie ends with Sasha throwing Tommy’s compass into the ocean as a goodbye to him, but also to signal that she’s ready to move on.
Why Did Ben Try To Kill Sasha?
Ben tried to kill Sasha in Apex because he thought that she was someone worth hunting. This is backed up by the fact that he saw her defend herself multiple times from a group of creepy men who were trying to intimidate her. This happened once in the local general store, and then again when the creepy men approached Sasha as she was solo camping for the night. Sasha is unexpected, controlled, and knows when to retreat or strike.
Ben also feels like Sasha is special, just like his mother. He turned his mother into jerky to keep her close to him forever. So, he wants to do the same with Sasha.
Furthermore, when Sasha encounters Ben again in the wilderness, he reveals that he feels a kinship with her. He connects with her through his assumption that she needs danger to feel alive and that perfection is the only option. He also lumps himself together with her and uses the word “us” when talking about how people lie to “messed up people” like them.
Is ‘Apex’ Getting A Sequel?
Debuting on April 24, 2026, Apex quickly rose to the number one spot on the Netflix streaming charts in the US and worldwide. However, at the time of writing, there are no plans for an Apex sequel. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope for more from Theron and the director.
During the New York City premiere for Apex at The Paris Theater, Theron made an appearance alongside Kormákur. She told the director, “I hope I get to make so many movies with you. I absolutely loved working with you.” She then turned to the audience and said, “This is my favorite movie I’ve ever made.”
If you take the joy that Theron felt making this movie and combine it with the fact that she filmed The Old Guard (2020) and The Old Guard 2 (2025) with Netflix, there’s a good case that a sequel could happen with Apex. Also, we have to take into consideration that The Old Guard 2 ended in a cliffhanger. So her working relationship with Netflix is far from over.
