This film is misnamed because there's no real apology offered, in fact the murderer sexually assaulted the missing daughter as a sixteen year old minor and blamed her for screaming saying "it was an accident." He took a child to an isolated area and started kissing her and broke her neck for screaming.

He even tried to sexually assault the mother earlier in the film, after not seeing her in nearly twenty years, claiming he returned because he "loves her" so much. This entitled man actually thinks he's going to have a calm talk with the love of his life about how he murdered her underaged daughter and his niece (by marriage) during an attempted rape.

He brought a gun "for his protection" and cut the phone lines because "she's so smart." THEN after he's tied up to a chair in a basement after she managed to sneak attack him when he holds her hostage, he proceeds to complain about how "he was used for money" during his marriage to her sister.

This isn't the best film I've ever seen and it's certainly not a surprising or satisfying mystery but it's still decent for this accurate portrayal of how "normal" and entitled the average white male abuser thinks he is our society, fifty years after the second wave of feminism.

The subject matter is bleak and depressing, but could have made for a good film (especially seeing as it has been done before).

With Janeane Garofalo as one of the title characters, there was even more of an expectation that the IMDB score of 5.5, was a fluke and/or that reviewers were just missing the point. Say what you will about Garafolo, but she's a powerhouse of acting skills and much more charismatic and attractive than some give her credit for being. Anna Gunn too, was a draw. THE woman who portrayed Skyler White of BB fame SO distastefully well, that the character's name became synonymous with cold, unsupportive wives everywhere, and this was something I could not miss.

Lamentably, after watching it, I kind of wish I had.

Among the worst of the film's foibles is that given the aforementioned talent, surprisingly, the acting from all three leads left a lot to be desired. Most of the interactions between Gunn and Garafolo felt forced and not very organic - almost as if you are watching two strangers working at attempting to form a friendship. Worse still, the portrayal of the sleaze bucket by Linus Roache, was exceptionally terrible. Perhaps it isn't that he was not believable as said sleaze bucket; maybe it is that he was too believable as a sleaze bucket - and nothing else. The range of emotions necessary to pull off the nuances of his role, were never part of the actor's almost uninterested delivery.

On a better note, the soundtrack to The Apology is pretty good, with the Ages and Ages version of the closing "Auld Lang Syne", being SO particularly noteworthy and resonant, that I bought it.