Tom Patient’s ’Apostate’ tells the story of a young soldier coming back from the battlefield only to find that his wife and his newborn child were killed whilst he was gone. From that moment on, time changes its course for Jack Beckett, and the only thing he wants now is to pay for his sins.
‘Apostate’ tackles the drama of one particular soldier, but the truth is that this story was everywhere, and each and every battalion had its own Jack Beckett who fought with courage and determination and then snapped at some point. Tom Patient, who is also the director, plays the role of Jack Beckett and we can say that he is doing a brilliant job. This short movie is rather introspective, and the whole narrative is based more on the unseen combat that can be traced only from Jack’s words when talking to the reverend. His confession from the church sounds more like the confession of the whole war, as Jack feels like the whole war is an equal burden on the shoulders of all the soldiers that fought it, even if you killed hundreds... or if you killed no one.
Apart from the brilliant acting and outstanding cinematography, ‘Apostate’ has an amazing score too. From the beginning, all the narrative is covered in a thin layer of softly played music that beautifully transforms Jack’s confession into a story of deep and great emotional impact. We interpreted the soft music as being similar to angelic music, the one you can hear while waiting in line to the Last Judgement. It is the sound of peace, the sound that announces in some way that everything will be ok. Over the past couple of years we’ve seen some tens of pieces covering stories of soldiers from the First or the Second World War, and each and every one of them had something in common. Tom Patient, however, brought to the table a new story, a new character that could easily fit into the web of the World Wars, helping recreate a tiny bit of amazing history that should definitely be explored more than it is, especially through such unique stories.
Written by Vlad A. G