The Gorge (2025) | REVIEW

Directed by Scott Derrickson — Screenplay by Zach Dean.

Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge follows two elite snipers, an American man named Levi Kane (played by Miles Teller) and a Lithuanian woman named Drasa (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), as they are both independently recruited for a top-secret mission in the middle of nowhere. At some unknown place in the world, there are two watchtowers standing across from each other, one representing the Western Bloc and another representing the Eastern Bloc. Each watchtower is guarded by mechanized turrets and bombs, and between the two watchtowers is a giant long hole in the ground — hence the title. Levi and Drasa have been hired to do maintenance on the weaponry and, at the same time, defend the world from what is hidden inside the mysterious valley. As they are the only two people in the vicinity, Drasa and Levi establish a connection, but when one of them accidentally falls down into the valley, everything changes and top secrets are revealed.

From The Tomorrow War writer Zach Dean and Sinister and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson, The Gorge, which was released on Apple TV+ on Valentine’s Day, makes for a genuinely entertaining blend of genres that also features two up-and-coming movie stars at the center of a nightmare scenario. The film is basically both 1) a romance film at the edge of the world, 2) a watchtower thriller with geopolitical references, and 3) an action-horror film with elite firearm specialists and stupefyingly creepy creature designs. The film has elements of Alex Garland’s Annihilation and, heck, even something like Aliens and Resident Evil (while the first hour is more concerned with set-up and thriller-romance stuff, the second hour feels like a video game in the best way possible).

Though elements of the narrative are somewhat generic, the film is confidently made and, admittedly, takes its time to get the constantly teased underworld between the watchtowers, but, rest assured, that there’s plenty of time dedicated to the mysteries and creatures below. The world beneath, though, admittedly, covered in smoke to blur surroundings (and colors that change from sickly yellow to stark purple) has many different creatures that, in total, add up to a lot of nightmare fuel (so-called ‘hollow men,’ strange horses, huge insects, and even something that kind of looks like a venus fly trap with blood and skeletal features). 

On the other side of things, there are also plenty of scenes about longing for human connection between the two stars, genuine leading star chemistry, and the film even quite clearly winks at the viewer with activities that reference its stars’ most famous films or shows. Their performances are solid with Joy putting on an Eastern European accent that she has used elsewhere and Teller nailing the tough but smitten former Marine role. Sigourney Weaver’s role is relatively small and, frankly, feels similar to what she did in The Cabin in the Woods. On the whole, Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge is a thoroughly entertaining genre-blend with solid stars, a believable connection and chemistry, and pure nightmare fuel (and plenty of it). Despite wanting to be more things than just one, it does a good job with its genre balancing act, as the romance is relatively compelling, while the action-horror stuff is sometimes firing on all cylinders.

7.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.