The Gorge Movie Review: A Thrilling Genre-Bending Adventure with Sizzling Chemistry

Precious few movies are there with hardly one or two characters who carry the weight of the entire storyline on their own shoulders, and that too, imperiously. The Gorge is one such movie where Miles Teller (Whiplash and Top Gun: Maverick) as Levi and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit and The Menu) as Drasa have done brilliantly well.

The Gorge movie review underlines prominent characteristics of the film, two amazing actors in a flimsy romance, with subtle character depth, decent visuals, fascinating concept of a genre-bending movie but appearing to be a collapse of the gorge itself, based on some ratings across the internet. 

The plot

Levi is an ex-Marine who knows how to use sniper flawlessly and that is why the government still wants him, despite failing at duty after a psych evaluation. 

Drasa is a Lithuanian mercenary who has only one job now: her secret assignment is to protect a classified gorge while staying isolated in a guarded tower. It is like protecting the gates of hell. 

Levi’s job is to watch over the gorge and Drasa as they both stay there for a year, a total of 365 days doing nothing but firing at any suspicious creature crawling out of the gorge and blasting at it to push it back into oblivion.

According to the protocol, neither of them is allowed to communicate with each other during the entire time. However, sitting idly is the last thing on their minds. They still communicate via hand gestures and sign language.

As their bond grows, so does the movie’s mystery, especially what is inside the gorge. They realize the danger is far worse than they had thought. 

They need every minuscule of strength, skill, and resilience to fight back the demons inside the gorge who are a massive threat to humanity. Watch the trailer here:

Check out similar reviews as The Monkey movie review for more horror and thriller insights.

Genre-bending movie and its intricacy

What is inside the gorge? This sole question keeps us tied to our seats and never ever want to get up for a pee. 

And yes, genre-bending movies are hard to make as they have to keep all the elements of subgenres intact. The real challenge is to integrate seamlessly the delicate elements while keeping the cohesiveness of the storyline undamaged. 

Such movies demand high levels of creativity and execution tactics from the director, writer, and even the actors. Merely thinking an idea and making it work are two different spectrums. 

The tricky part is mixing elements of comedy and horror, for example, without making the audience bored. In the race to retain the strengths of all genres, character development might lose its grip within the story, making the audience feel disconnected. 

Nuanced writing and acting serve as major flows in the process as catering to fans in genre-bending flicks affects them differently. It is because different audiences have different ways of perceiving things, and therefore, come up with their own interpretations. 

The role of chemistry between the lead actors 

This is what the “weight of the entire movie on the shoulders of two lead actors” actually means. The fiery chemistry between Levi and Drasa is unmissable despite carrying the baggage of government duty.

Since the movie was released on 14 February, the writer and director wanted to make it stand true to the romantic genre. Still, it remains quite unexpected throughout the movie that two guards with snipers are ready for a date night when they know monsters are lingering underneath. It was interesting to see Drasa initiating the contact when she asked Levi “What is your name?” written on her notepad. Only Derrickson could have pulled off something like this.   

While some reviews are quite mixed, one of the reviews from The Guardian noted that the actors’ chemistry seemed off in their romantic scenes due to one reason. 

“Both actors are in full, show-me-the-money autopilot mode, flatly flirting with such lack of passion it feels as their real-life partners are awkwardly watching off-camera”.  

Is the CGI in the movie effective, or does it detract from the experience?

CGI is used in the movie like needle in the haystack. It is one of the movies where the lead actors have to go through intense physical training, such as Taylor-Joy did for one year when she was cast in Mad Max Saga. 

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, both of the actors spilled the beans about the technical difficulties they had to face while filming for some of the most risky scenes with practical effects and visuals. 

There was one jeep-hanging scene. It was a lengthy fight sequence and had to be filmed “completely vertical”. The gravity-defying sequence was only possible after days of rehearsals and with complex choreography efforts of acrobatic fighting since they had to fight ‘hollow men’, the mutant humanoid creatures from the gorge. 

How does the film build suspense while keeping a lighthearted tone?

The darkness of the mysterious aura that the storyline created has overcome here and there with the lighthearted romance. 

Otherwise, a large part of the film where most of the heavy suspense takes over, has zero dialogues. It all trickles down to the powerful acting without any need felt for any dialogue. 

Although the tension of the monsters’ existence persists, the movie’s lighthearted tone stays due to the fact that there is another world, another life other than worrying about the monsters only.

It is both funny and clever that Derrickson kept the romantic themes on top of every other genre. The blending seemed smooth but in a goofy way. The compelling character development with featherweight relationship building keeps the sci-fi mystery distractingly pleasant. 

How does “The Gorge movie review” compare to other films by Scott Derrickson?

Mixed reviews are surfacing over the internet as The Gorge is found similar to Aliens and Game of Thrones with some touches of The Green Knight and Stranger Things. One of the audience reviews with a five-star rating said, 

“This is what entertainment is about. Action, romance, monsters, and bonkers predictable story. Turn your brain off and have a good time!”

Scott Derrickson is an auteur who knows what he wants out of his movies. For instance, in his previous films Doctor Strange and The Black Phone, though they were not considered genre-bending ones, Derrickson knew what kind of reaction he wanted out of his audience. 

The same was observed in The Black Phone. He wanted his viewers to see the abused child grow from the smallest weakest kid to a greater and more powerful one. He did want the audience to see the sadistic killer making the child’s life hell and be disturbed about it, but not turn up against him. 

Most of his movies are watchable as well as enjoyable but not “out of this world”. When we look at his directorial resume, the majority of his projects are horror and thrillers, and a superhero one with Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange was a stand-alone movie that neither had any previous characters coming to make connections to the story nor the movie was to be taken forward for any sequels. He had chances to play with the characters, and that is why it was a pure creation that gained acclaim all over the world. 

Genre: Action, adventure, romance, survival, science fiction, horror, thriller

IMDb rating: 6.8

Rotten Tomatoes: 64 percent on Tomatometer (critics score), 78 percent on Popcornmeter

Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu and William Houston

Director: Scott Derrickson

Producers: Scott Derrickson, Zach Dean, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, C. Robert Cargill, Sherryl Clark, Adam Kolbrenner, Gregory Goodman

Writer: Zach Dean

Initial release date: February 14, 2025

Movie runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes

Where to stream: Apple TV+

Overall, The Gorge is a thrilling movie, considered a thorough popcorn entertainment flick. Though not really ‘unforgettable’, the film successfully sustains the dread residing in “fear of the unknown” that keeps the viewers hooked till the end. 

What are your thoughts about The Gorge?