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Apprentice

Play trailer 1:47 Poster for Apprentice 2017 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Aiman, a 28-year-old Malay correctional officer, is transferred to the territory's top prison. At his new job, he is asked to become an apprentice to Rahim, the facility's executioner. Aiman tells his sister of his new position, and she becomes upset when she realizes their father was actually executed by Rahim. Aiman knew this all along. Aiman must overcome his conscience and a haunted past if he wants to become the next chief executioner.
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Apprentice

Critics Reviews

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Stephen Holden New York Times 03/02/2017
At first "Apprentice" seems to be a basic revenge film in which Aiman stalks the man who killed his father. But it becomes psychologically more complex ... Go to Full Review
Nick Schager Village Voice 03/01/2017
Drenched in darkness and routinely visualizing its characters behind bars and alone in the frame, Apprentice teases a climax of bloody revenge, only to take a far more somber, complex turn. Go to Full Review
Andrea Gronvall Chicago Reader 02/27/2017
Benoit Soler's fluid, revolving camera frequently visualizes what the main character can't verbalize, and writer-director Boo Junfeng treats his thorny topic with sensitivity, but the pat ending is a letdown. Go to Full Review
David Walsh World Socialist Web Site 07/08/2020
The film ends up a somewhat murky psychological character study and not much more. Go to Full Review
Ricardo Gallegos Pólvora 07/03/2020
A complex psychological film with ideas worth contemplating for a long time. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Film Vault 12/02/2019
"The Apprentice" is a great film that manages to shed light on a global topic and its particular circumstances in Singapore, without detracting anything from the dramatic/entertaining aspect of the film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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isla s 09/03/2022 This is very much a sobering watch - not an easy one, especially for the squeamish, or those prone to claustrophobia, for obvious reasons. I suppose it made me think, if but a little, of the film The Green Mile. The moral quandary of whether it can ever be, or feel, right to take someone's life after them having taken someone else's, well, that's surely one of the oldest questions and most debated things in many hundreds of years, esp. since the rise of what's regarded as civilised society. I thought this film did well at showing things from the point of view of the main character, Aiman, played by Firdaus Rahman. I would recommend this, as an example of a decent drama which is a piece of world cinema (its mainly in Malay, with some English dialogue). Its a tough watch due to the theme, as I say but otherwise its worth a watch. See more 08/25/2018 It's a very simple story but so multi-layered. Really like the way it's executed (no pun intended), tho some scenes were hard to watch... great job Boo Junfeng! See more nilufer e @Nilicim 07/08/2017 It was an intense movie in which you keep waiting for something drastic to happen but it never does, however the acting was good and it was an original movie. Wouldn't watch it twice though. See more 06/23/2017 Possibly good but most of it not in English and I can't be bothered with subs See more 11/23/2016 One of the best and most purposeful Singaporean films I've ever seen. Full review:>> http://bit.ly/2gBNEir See more 07/01/2016 A very decent character drama, with pitch-perfect casting and performances. Perhaps some "travelling" shots could stand to be cut, but otherwise, it's absorbing and well-paced. See more Read all reviews
Apprentice

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Apprentice

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Movie Info

Synopsis Aiman, a 28-year-old Malay correctional officer, is transferred to the territory's top prison. At his new job, he is asked to become an apprentice to Rahim, the facility's executioner. Aiman tells his sister of his new position, and she becomes upset when she realizes their father was actually executed by Rahim. Aiman knew this all along. Aiman must overcome his conscience and a haunted past if he wants to become the next chief executioner.
Director
Boo Junfeng
Producer
Fran Borgia, Raymond Phathanavirangoon, Fong Cheng Tan
Screenwriter
Boo Junfeng
Distributor
Film Movement
Production Co
Augenschein Filmproduktion
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Malay
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 3, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.6K
Runtime
1h 36m
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