Two weeks after Netflix released a new APEX The movie, Charlize Theron action flick will go viral on TikTok. And it’s all thanks to Taron Egerton’s psychedelic little dance to the 2015 song “Go,” by British electronica band the Chemical Brothers.
Directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur, with a screenplay written by Jeremy Robbins, APEX Theron stars as Sasha, a mountaineer who experiences the death of her husband (played by Eric Bana). He embarks on a solo hiking and kayaking trip in the Australian wilderness, where he meets a friendly local (Egerton) who gives him his travel tips. But when he follows the route he suggests, he soon realizes that he is completely friendless. He is a twisted killer, and he wants to hunt down the most dangerous game: himself.
In a pivotal scene in the film where Ben’s true intentions are revealed, he informs Sasha that until the end of the song he’s blasting—“Go” by the Chemical Brothers—to stay away from him. After the song, he comes after her. “What’s going on?” Ben asked in response to Sasha’s shock and awe. “I thought you liked danger?”
Sasha starts running, and true to her word, Ben waits until the end of the song to follow her. And in the meantime, he’s enjoying the rhythm of the music, looking really confused. Again the strangled bird cries—”WAIT!“—which reveals that it was Sasha who heard that night that her bag of goods had been stolen.
It’s no doubt a fun scene to watch, made even more fun by the perfect song choice—immature, aggressive, and a little menacing, like Ben. In an interview with Decider, APEX director Baltasar Kormákur revealed that the song was a suggestion from Egerton himself.
“[We got] all kinds of song ideas. I didn’t want a disco song or anything like that,” Kormákur told Decider. Not everyone had that idea, at first. There was a lot of, ‘Oh, no, no, it’s not the right song.’ I said, we’re doing this, and then we can do another version if we feel like it’s not working—try another song. Then Taron did [the scene] and all the staff and all involved were like, ‘That’s it. It’s perfect.’ They could see you. It worked.”
It worked so well, in fact, that it inspired a new trend on TikTok.
People filmed themselves humming “Hamba” by The Chemical Brothers, walking like a confused bird, or simply lip-syncing to Egerton’s dialogue in the scene.
The meme seems to be especially popular among stressed-out parents, who use dialogue from the film to inform their terrified children that they should until the end of the song “get as far away from me as possible.”
But it can also be used as spring cleaning inspiration…
…to burp and eat beef…
…or shooting Taron Egerton. Can you blame him? He may be a serial killer with fangs in this movie, but the body is tea!
The meme undoubtedly delivers APEX chart increase on Netflix, where it has been trending in the Top 10 since its release.
There’s also a big bump for The Chemicals Brother’s 10-year-old single, which has seen a 400 percent increase in streams since APEXrelease, according to a report from Billboard. The song is currently No.5 on Billboard’s Dance Digital Song Sales chart. Everyone come for a ride!
