The Apostle (1997) on Netflix
Euliss 'Sonny' Dewey preaches in Texas, where his wife Jessie has taken up with Horace, a youth minister. Sonny leaves town, calls himself the Apostle E.F., and starts preaching in Louisiana.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.2/1016,116 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Euliss 'Sonny' Dewey leads a Pentecostal congregation in Texas, with his wife Jessie and their children beside him. Jessie has begun a relationship with Horace, a youth minister, and will not consider a reconciliation. She also uses the church's rules to push Sonny out, and many in the congregation side with her. Sonny insists the church is his and prays for an answer. At a softball game at his children's Bible camp, drunk and furious, he strikes Horace with a bat, leaving him in a coma. Sonny flees, sinks his car in a river, and destroys whatever identifies him. Calling himself the Apostle E.F., he reaches the Louisiana bayous and persuades a retired minister, Blackwell, to help him start a church. He takes odd jobs to fund it and to buy airtime on a local radio station.
Cast
- William Atlas Coleas Bayou Man (as Brother William Atlas Cole)
- Mary Lynette Braxtonas Mother Blackwell
- Paul Baggetas Tag Team Preacher #3 (as Brother Paul Bagget)
Show all 20 cast
- Christopher Canadyas Sister Johnson's Twin
- Christian Canadyas Sister Johnson's Twin
- Elizabeth Chisolmas Singer
- Frank Collins Jr.as Soloist #4 (as Reverend Frank Collins Jr.)
- Carl D. Cookas Civic Auditorium Preacher (as Prophet Carl D. Cook)
- Naomi Craigas Scripture Reader
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Apostle (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Robert Duvall first wrote The Apostle in 1984 and could not find a single studio willing to make it. His fascination with preachers went back to the 1960s, when he sat in on a small Pentecostal chapel in Arkansas while researching an off-Broadway play.
- At the Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 1997 the film sold itself mid-screening: studio executives started walking out of the theater to put in bids for the distribution rights, and October Films won the auction that same night.
