The Gorge Movie Review: Apple TV+’s Captivating Aesthetic and Spectacular Action

The Gorge is one of those films that seem born from a challenge to insert as many bizarre ideas as possible into one story. Two elite snipers – Levi (Miles Teller), former American Marine, and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), Lithuanian assassin in the service of Russia – are assigned to an isolated base built during the Second World War around a huge gorge. Their task? Prevent what is hidden in the throat from coming out. So far, it might look like a science fiction action thriller, but The Gorge is not satisfied with remaining in one genre. Surprisingly, it turned into a romantic comedy with almost fairytale moments and then returned to being an unbridled action film. A mixture of genres that, on the one hand, is chaotic, on the other has its charm and captures the viewer. The first part, the most purely “romantic”, is the one that works best, and that invites those who look to stay until the end to find out if the two protagonists will be able to live their love more than to see how they will solve the “problems” that nest in the throat.

Like every year, we are back on Valentine’s Day, the so-called feast of lovers. Time to book a table for two in your favorite restaurant of your better half, then go to the cinema, or fathom the depths of the streaming platforms, in search of the best romantic comedies. You could focus on a classic, like Harry, introduce you to Sally…, or choose something that came out recently (it has arrived right now in theaters Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), certainly the offer is not lacking. But there is also a whole slice of the public who prefer alternative visions to the party theme of lovers, such as the cult of horror Valentine’s Day or the action comedy about couple problems True Lies. Spouses and boyfriends in search of strong emotions, not very tolerant of all those excessively sweet productions, which in this period go to the cinemas to enjoy Babygirl is Companion.

The Gorge Movie Review: The Story Plot

Levi (Teller) and Drasa (Taylor-Joy) are two of the deadliest shooters chosen on the square, respectively by the American army and contractors and those orbiting the Russian sphere of influence. “They are the best at what they do, but what they do is not pleasant”, paraphrasing Wolverine’s famous recurring line. Both are entrusted with a new secret and unusual mission: to preside for a whole year on the two towers that are located on opposite sides of a mysterious gorge, 500 meters deep, from which monstrous and deadly creatures emerge. Could it be, as some argue, the entrance to hell? The two soldiers, distant and without the possibility of communicating through canonical means, begin to get to know each other by writing on some signs, which they then read thanks to the binoculars supplied with them. A knowledge that soon becomes something more, when Levi falls into the pit due to an accident. It will be up to Drasa to descend into the dangerous throat to try to save the beloved.

The Gorge is essentially the story of two characters who lead a solitary existence, to which civilian life must be close. They feel comfortable only when they are on a mission, with their eyes glued to the rifle scope, focused on their target. A pair of sunny and peculiar souls, a poetry enthusiast – Levi even attended a course at a community college on the subject – and the other intent on cooking tasty rabbit pies. Two solitudes meet at the mouth of hell, discovering a deep connection. The gimmick behind the bizarre way in which the two protagonists get to know expands an idea seen in The Dawn of the Living Dead, a remake of The Zombies of Romerian Memory directed by Zack Snyder at the beginning and written by a young James Gunn. Here were a couple of survivors on the roofs of two buildings, separated by a boundless horde of zombies, making friends writing on billboards, and even managing to carry on a game of chess.

The Gorge Movie Review and Analysis

A relationship, between Levi and Drasa, develops over time, jumping from month to month, between anniversaries such as Christmas, on the rocking notes of Twisted Sister’s “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”, and an adrenaline-fueled birthday for the girl. Unfortunately, the script of Zach Dean, behind the unsuccessful Tomorrow’s War is Fast X, soon falls into the routine of the most obvious action of this kind, where the protagonists find themselves having to survive in a hostile environment, populated by terrifying creatures. The Gorge is easy to transform into a jumble of clichés seen and reviewed since the time of Aliens – Final Clash (that the presence in the cast of the underutilized Sigourney Weaver is an explicit reference?). As if that were not enough, everything flows into a foregone conclusion; a turning point we have already witnessed countless times, not only in the cinema, but also in the most banal plots offered by the videogame world.

They do not help with directions and a photograph with little personality, which aligns with the standard of films produced for the platforms. The design creatures of The Gorge Furthermore, it is not at all inspired, with monsters, equipped with bodies wrapped in branches and bark, halfway between the Floronic man of the DC Comics comics and the woody antagonist of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Small evocative moments are not absent, such as a forest made up of trees merged with corpses, mindful of the group of suicides in Dante’s Hell, but it is too little to revive the fate of the film. Everything sinks into an anti-climatic showdown in the woods, based on drones and an unsatisfactory explosion in CGI. Put simply, The Gorge is certainly not the ideal film to liven up your alternative Valentine’s Day.

Despite the narrative problems, The Gorge still manages to entertain thanks to its visual compartment and action sequences. Director Scott Derrickson demonstrates that he knows how to manage gunfights and explosions with great skill, creating spectacular moments reminiscent of those of a video game. However, precisely this videogame aspect becomes a double-edged sword: some scenes seem more like a “mission” to be completed than a fluid cinematic narration. The characters overcome insurmountable obstacles too easily, the wounds seem to heal almost instantly and often the film gives the sensation of advancing for “levels” rather than with an organic development of the story. From an aesthetic point of view, The Gorge is visually quite fascinating. The color palette changes as the film progresses, moving from dark and overwhelming tones to more vibrant and saturated scenarios.

The design of the creatures is also interesting: the monsters that inhabit the throat, vaguely reminiscent of the clickers of The Last of Us, manage to convey a right balance between disgust and restlessness, adding a horror touch to the mix of genres. Also, in this case, the video game’s inspiration is evident, and at times it makes everything a little grotesque. If the film still manages to maintain a certain level of involvement, the merit is above all Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. The two actors have excellent chemistry, especially in scenes where they interact remotely, using only looks, gestures, and written messages. Taylor-Joy manages to make Drasa a fascinating figure, despite an accent that sounds forced and a characterization a little too soft for what should be a Russian assassin. Teller, on the other hand, embodies the typical American hero, with a charisma that works in the action scenes but that is less convincing when the film tries to explore the more tormented side of its character.

One of the most disappointing aspects is precisely the treatment of the background of the protagonists. Levi is afflicted by PTSD from his past as a soldier, but this subplot is developed inconsistently: in some moments it seems to be a crucial element of his personality, in others it is completely forgotten. The same goes for the family history of Drasa, which is mentioned but never deepened. The Gorge is a film in which he could have become a little cult if he dared to dare more. His crazy premise, the mix of genres, and the protagonist couple could have created something unique. However, the choice to stay on safe tracks in its second half and to explain each element rather than leaving it to the public’s imagination makes the film less memorable than it could have been. Despite everything, The Gorge remains a pleasant entertainment, perfect for an evening without too many pretensions. It will not be a masterpiece, but if you are looking for a film that combines romance, action, and a pinch of horror, it could still be worth the vision.

We therefore understand that the mission entrusted to Levi and Drasa is to contain, to protect against the secrets that the throat contains. It is entrusted to them who must learn to manage the consequences of their actions: how do you live after killing countless people? Although it is impressive to have an aim like their own and the skills they possess, how do you set your conscience? Do you contain damage like what you have been asked to do or find strategies? Drasa gives up guilt by collecting the bullets and putting them aside, Levi writes poems trying to appease nightmares. It is immediately understood that their being chosen has a reason. Another dynamic that works well is that between the two characters in The Gorge Review. Remote communication tends to make the connection that is denied them more desirable, also amplified by feelings that are familiar to both, helped by the chemistry between Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. From a technical point of view, I appreciated the play of colors made with the fog that pervades the valley; a sequence that changes the more they go into and that gives an alteration between cold and warm colors.

Having concluded The Gorge review, I recommend the vision of the film above all for the feeling of curiosity and mystery that I felt in the first part and the involvement in the events of the second. It is perhaps not a perfect product, but it certainly knows how to entertain and achieve its goal, of remaining of the highest quality in the streaming landscape that surrounds us. This film lacks something, especially from the point of view of writing history. To give an example, without spoiling too much, when Levi is summoned, the high poppy played by Sigourney Weaver at some point asks him why he did not contest the judgment of the psychiatrist who considered him unsuitable, and he says “I was not right, lately I don’t have many reasons to get by. ” Then she says, “What if I give you a valid reason?”

Now, don’t make the mistake of waiting two hours to find out more about the reasons that woman gave him, or to get explanations about his nightmares, his past, his passion for poetry, the psychiatrist’s judgment, and why he prefers not to have ties to anyone, only to fall in love with practically at a distance with the beautiful Drasa. Although not treated more widely, Anya Taylor-Joy’s character is certainly better written, and her story is clearer and more linear, even if her ending doesn’t exactly make much sense. Unless this lack of explanation serves an unlikely sequel, it would make little sense. Nevertheless, in The Gorge he made us do a couple of jumps on the sofa for the fright that, alone, can be worth the ticket price, or in short, the vision, if you are lovers of “fearful” films or if you want to take advantage of it for an intimate evening company: tension in this sense is assured. Ultimately, The Gorge is a film that perhaps takes itself a little too seriously for the limits it has, but for lovers – occasional or habitual – of thriller horror, vision is recommended.

In The Gorge, this place is a mysterious “gorge”, that the secret services of two atomic powers such as the United States and Russia – in a somewhat’ cold war place revival – want to keep hidden. Like the cave of The Descent, it is a real cavity and at the same time metaphysical, which conceals the secrets of its damnation. Derrickson, who had already ventured into infernal reproductions in the days of Hellraiser 5 (2000) and who has long cherished the dream of transposition of the Lost paradise of Milton, must have felt calamity in a project not his own but which allowed him, with the money of a platform, to realize a personal vision of the Underworld. Around the cursed slit, Derrickson, probably to enhance the presence of a trio made up of Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sigourney Weaver However, he must also imagine an unlikely love story against the background of a cold war out of time (more credible would have been a US-China geopolitical structure, but casting reasons likely prevailed…).

Not that Derrickson doesn’t try something more daring than a curious spy romance inside the frame of a fantasy horror. The situation in which the two guardians of the throat – Teller on the American side find themselves, the Taylor-Joy on the Russian side – allows him to set up a silent and remote courtship of binoculars, using mimicry and signs, thus establishing once again the primacy of the visual over the action. The mission of the rest is hidden, the two are shielded, and that seeing has the flavor of recognition. The funny thing is that the game of recognition is extended to the public, while the Taylor-Joy character makes an unconscious imitation of The Queen’s Gambit and of Furiosa, and Miles Teller plays a fake drum remembering his taxi in Whiplash. The fact that they are both two formidable snipers and that they also entertain with death a relationship mediated by the gaze at a distance of viewfinder (much more distant, all the more successful) is a redundancy of that optical structure on which Derrickson’s operation is based.

The other aspect is that both are broken characters. It is even obvious, in a Christian sense such as that dear to Derrickson, that the two protagonists decide to contravene the laws of the world (established by an interposed person by the rational-instrumental logic of the character of Sigourney Weaver) by going beyond the separation screen and accepting the risk of close encounter. The history of salvation is made of flesh. The problems of the film begin when they move on to action. In the sense of action. Here the director reveals more embarrassment. And in fact, thinking about Derrickson’s previous works, a certain static nature catches the eye. A constraint is also dictated by physical space. The exorcism of Emily Rose was set in a courtroom; Sinister in a projection room inside a house; and The Black Phone in a basement. And even when he ventured into a Marvel movie, did it for the most atypical of the characters in that galaxy, that is Doctor Strange, who is more of a sorcerer than a superhero. The space that could not be traveled ended up becoming space to cross, in an inner, mental movement and any case outside the physical coordinates.

It is the fracture that in religious horror ousted the statistics of transcendental cinema, as theorized by Schrader. The Gorge instead imposes a descent into hell from an Impossible mission, with explosions, shootings, hand-to-hand fights, and daring survival tests, which unravel and end up overwhelming the size of the terrifying wonder, in the presence of a supernatural reality to be discovered. A final explanation is not required on its origin, which takes away further strength from The Gorge of the Italian title. Thus remains an unfinished film, crossed by fascinating –suggestions the incursion into The Empty Men by Eliot, for example, in a film of the genre – which, however, struggles to recompose themselves in a sufficiently coherent framework. Derrickson has nice insights but ends up remaining a little’ flooded by the writing device (the script is by Zach Dean) and, let’s imagine, by the lack of harmony with the productive logic of streaming. The doubt remains: a daring horror film soiled by the client’s interference or a dignified commissioned work with moments of true horror cinema?

The Gorge Movie Review: The Last Words

The Gorge is a film that mixes action, romance, and science fiction, telling the story of two chosen shooters in charge of overseeing a mysterious gorge containing an unknown threat. A relationship arises between them that develops through messages written remotely until circumstances push them to meet in person and discover the secrets hidden in the abyss. Despite being visually appealing and supported by good interpretations, the film suffers from predictable narration and a script that explains too much instead of leaving room for mystery.

Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver

Director: Scott Derrickson

Streaming Platform: Apple TV+

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars)

The Gorge Movie Review: Apple TV+’s Captivating Aesthetic and Spectacular Action - Filmyhype

Director: Scott Derrickson

Date Created: 2025-02-14 17:51

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Pros

• Original and intriguing premise
• Excellent chemistry between Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy
• Spectacular and well-choreographed action sequences
• The premise of the series and the mystery behind the film are interesting
• Good use of photography
• Good construction of narrative tension

Cons

• Spectacular and well-choreographed action sequences
• Too many
• Interesting but inconsistently developed subplots
• Characters who overcome obstacles with excessive ease
• The hasty ending.
• Mystery resolution perhaps too predictable for the originality of the platform