Scott Derrickson’s THE GORGE is a really entertaining date night movie perfect for Valentine’s Day. Honestly, there were several times watching the movie I thought to myself “this is really silly,” but Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy’s incredible chemistry kept me hanging in there. And by the end of the film, I realized that even though the movie is super “out there”, it was also kinda fun. Part romance, part monster horror, part survival thriller, it has enough for the partner that likes action and enough for the partner that likes to see two characters fall in love; it’s even better if you like all of the above.
The story follows two snipers, Levi (Teller) and Drasa (Taylor-Joy), who are assigned to observation posts monitoring opposite sides of a giant hole in the Earth. Levi, a former marine sniper, is charged with protecting the western side of the gorge. Drasa, a Lithuanian assassin, is chosen to protect the eastern side. Both don’t really know what the gorge represents; maybe it’s the gate to hell, suggests Levi’s predecessor. But what they do know is that they need to spend the next year making sure whatever is down there does not get out.
Their jobs are supposed to be very isolating. There is to be no contact with each other and there is only 5 second check-in calls with headquarters once a month. Their time is instead supposed to be spent reloading automatic weapons around the gorge and doing other important maintenance work to the equipment. Of course, all of that changes when the two begin communicating via signs. Their relationship quickly begins to blossom from afar, but will the huge, dangerous gorge be able to keep them apart forever? I’ll give you one guess…
Teller and Taylor-Joy’s chemistry leaps off the screen and is the best part of the movie. Even in the moments I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the expository dialogue, terrible CGI, or ridiculous plot points, the relationship between the two lead characters kept making me come back for more. It’s hard to make an on-screen relationship work so quickly, but I totally bought that they would fall for each other so quickly and work so hard to ensure the other made it out in the end. Maybe I just love a romance, but don’t think it gets too sappy. There is a lot of ass-kicking action scenes that will keep the adrenaline junkies just as happy.
I also loved that the film doesn’t have Taylor-Joy’s character as a damsel in distress. In many scenarios, she is the one that saves the day. One scene in particular between her and a baddie (no spoilers here) was an incredibly well-choreographed hand-to-hand fight scene that I even rewound several times to see how she pulled it off. I love seeing her in an action-packed role like this, reminiscent of her incredible performance in FURIOSA. Also, don’t think for a second I missed for one second the reference to QUEEN’S GAMBIT, where Taylor-Joy and Teller play a long-distance game of chess with the queen in a starring role.
One of the main issues with the film is it objectively struggles in the CGI department. So much of the world is made from a green screen and while some films can pull it off, this one struggled… especially when the setting shifts from the observation towers (again, going easy on the spoilers). Still, I was impressed by many of the action sequences, especially one of the final set pieces involving Teller and Taylor-Joy clinging to a jeep. I can totally see it being a level in a RESIDENT EVIL video game. The film does a great job of never making you feel totally sure that the main characters are going to make it out alive… and hey, maybe they don’t.
I’m honestly surprised that I was so entertained by THE GORGE because on paper, it’s not a film I would usually like. But the relationship elements between Teller and Taylor-Joy are what really helped me push through the more ridiculous plot points and instead root for the characters up until the very end. Luckily, the film is free if you subscribe to Apple TV+, so you can watch it in the comfort of your house, just in time for Valentine’s Day!
My Review: B-
