The Gorge

by Mike McGranaghan

The Gorge is a lot of movie, but that’s okay because it relentlessly works to entertain the viewer. This latest effort from The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson incorporates romance, comedy, science-fiction, horror, and action. There’s a little something here for just about everyone. The film is available on the Apple TV+ streaming service, although it’s the kind of popcorn fare that could have easily received a splashy theatrical release during the summer season.

Levi (Miles Teller) is a skilled American sniper drafted into a top-secret program by Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver), a woman he assumes is “a high-level spook.” He’s dropped into an unfamiliar, isolated area, notable for a massive gorge with two large concrete towers, one on each side. Levi’s one-year job is to keep whatever’s in the gorge from getting out. From inside the tower, he can see the person on the other side. She is Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), an equally skilled Russian sniper. Due to severe isolation – and against regulations - they begin communicating through binoculars and handwritten signs, forming a sweet, sometimes funny romantic bond in the process.

If you guessed that one or both of the characters end up venturing into the gorge, you obviously understand the mechanics of action pictures very well. What’s down there is truly horrific and gross, and it allows for a sequence that legitimately made me squirm. (Hint: it involves an adhesive substance.) Excellent effects work, set design, and cinematography turn the bottom of the gorge into the stuff of nightmares. I don’t want to give away what the characters find, except to say that the physical look of the movie does a great job of selling a harrowing concept.

The effect of The Gorge going from mysterious, character-driven tale to all-out action barrage is a bit jarring. Similarly, when the movie gives its big revelation about who Bartholomew really is and what she’s trying to do, a feeling of déjà vu is inescapable because other pictures have utilized the exact same idea. Non-stop thrills in the back half keep things fun regardless. Derrickson delivers a tight pace, especially during a nail-biting sequence involving the characters’ attempt to scale the gorge’s wall using the winch on a Jeep.

Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy give the movie a human center. The romance between Levi and Drasa is slightly forced, but the actors strike up more than enough chemistry to compensate for that. In fact, the best scenes aren’t even the ones with creatures, they’re the ones where the snipers get acquainted from across a distance. In a time when good old-fashioned star power seems to be in decline, Teller and Taylor-Joy serve as a reminder of the specific magic genuine movie stars can bring to a project.

The Gorge crams a ton of stuff into its 128-minute running time, possibly even enough for two movies. Still, the humorous moments are funny, the performances are first-rate, and the thrills come fast and furious. The film is such a wild ride that being overstuffed is essentially an asset. You definitely don’t get short-changed in the entertainment department.

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