Movie Review: The Gorge
I went into The Gorge on Apple TV+ with no prior knowledge of the premise, thanks to my fiancé. When he said, “Shall we watch a movie?” and I saw Anya Taylor-Joy as the lead, I had to laugh. “Oh, now I know why we’re watching this one.” She’s undeniably stunning and an exceptional actress, so I was fairly confident this would be a good movie, regardless of what it was about.
The film opens with two elite snipers, one male and one female, representing the East and West. My initial thought was that this would be a modern Cold War spy story. I figured they’d either try to kill each other or fall in love, a pretty familiar set-up. But the movie did seem like it had potential.
Sigourney Weaver takes a role of a mysterious “person in command” of some kn-named agency and she plays a cracking role!
Soon, Levi Kane (Miles Teller), the Western sniper, is transferred to a top-secret observation post along the side of a gorge. It’s a year-long assignment in isolation, with only one other tower across the gorge. We quickly learn that Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), representing the East, is in the other tower. The location is so secretive it’s equipped with cloaking technology to keep it off satellite radars.
Spoiler Alert — Proceed with Caution
Things take a dark turn when we see the British royal marine Levi replaces is collected by helicopter, and it’s immediately clear he won’t be leaving with the sensitive information he carries. As expected, he’s killed before he even reaches his pick-up.
Initially, Levi and Drasa ignore each other. Well, sort of, they spy on each other covertly. As the film progresses, we discover the true nature of what they’re guarding in the gorge: the Hollow Men. These creatures are a bizarre love-child between humans, Groot, and undead on steroids.
When Drasa’s birthday arrives, she breaks protocol and reaches out to Levi. They stay in communication and what follows is a fun nod to their previous roles: Levi plays drums (a reference to Whiplash), and Drasa plays chess (a nod to The Queen’s Gambit). Eventually, Levi crosses the gorge on a zipline with flowers to join Drasa for a meal and some chemistry, the inevitable “horizontal gymnastics” follow.
Cynically, I thought, “Men will go to any extreme to be near a beautiful woman,” but the meal, rabbit pie, was well-prepared, and the interaction felt surprisingly normal, given the setting. However, on Levi’s return journey, disaster strikes. He falls into the gorge, and Drasa unhesitatingly jumps in after him. What follows is a descent into a terrifying, otherworldly environment filled with undead tree monsters, all lurking in a mustard yellow fog.
The creatures are eerie, sinister, and intriguingly familiar, yet not, while their noises are typical of what we’ve heard in countless Hollywood films, there’s something about how they’re contained and the world they inhabit that feels fresh. The tension is palpable, and I couldn’t help but be drawn into this dark and monstrous world.
The transition from a standard sniper drama to a thrilling, supernatural horror was unexpected and fun. While the super-soldier experiments, monstrous creatures, and containment zones aren’t exactly groundbreaking, the way the film presents them is engaging. It taps into that dark, fantastical part of the imagination that I love. It wasn’t the most intellectually stimulating movie, but it was a blast for anyone who enjoys a bit of monster mayhem.
I highly recommend The Gorge for what it is, great monster entertainment. It may not break new ground in storytelling, but it does a fantastic job at making the ride both creepy and thrilling.