How far would you go for a worthy love story? It’s the most pressing question at the forefront of “The Gorge” for its two main leads, rival snipers played with effortless chemistry by Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. Separated by thousands of meters of canyon depths, the vast gulf between them only exacerbates their need for connection. Yet, intentional or not, this also doubles as an inadvertent commentary on the state of the genre these days. It’s no secret that 2024 was a fairly dire year when it comes to rom-coms. But no matter how many decisionmakers in charge want to pretend otherwise, audiences clearly remain starved for something that delivers romance.
As much as filmmakers might want to make straightforward romances, however, they’ve had far better luck sneaking them into larger genre plays. Think of “Twisters” using the backdrop of CGI tornadoes to do an enemies-to-lovers ship (even if it neglected to include that all-important kiss at the end) or, more recently, “Heart Eyes” taking the slasher route to its rom-com ambitions. “The Gorge” pulls off this balance better than most of its contemporaries — albeit not quite to its fullest potential.
Scott Derrickson’s latest, from a 2020 Black List screenplay by Zach Dean (“The Tomorrow War”), is best described as a genre mashup. The “Doctor Strange” and “The Black Phone” director is working in ideal territory here and he knows it, having already dabbled in high-flying action with his brief stay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and obviously proving his horror bona fides several times over by now. “The Gorge” initially falls under the heading of a slow-burning action thriller, following the parallel journeys of lone-wolf, PTSD-ridden snipers Levi (Teller) and his Lithuanian counterpart Drasa (Taylor-Joy) as they’re ordered to guard opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. It soon transforms into something altogether more romantic when, with little else to do beyond their daily patrols, Levi and Drasa can’t resist keeping a voyeuristic eye on one another through their high-tech binoculars. Once they tumble down into the darkest recesses of Chekhov’s Gorge itself (which, trust me, is only a “spoiler” for anyone who’s never watched a single movie before), things take a turn into outright sci-fi territory.
“The Gorge” is a movie that’s constantly light on its feet, flipping between tones and genres with deceptive ease. Derrickson has never met a premise he couldn’t somehow flip on its head, and his confident direction makes this a blast to watch unfold. You’ll come for the promise of pulpy sci-fi action with a dash of horror … which the movie only occasionally delivers on. But you’ll end up staying for the achingly sincere love story – one that’s, by far, the highlight of the film.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller’s chemistry in The Gorge melts the screen
While watching “The Gorge,” I couldn’t help but think about what best defines a movie star. Does that phrase even mean much anymore when an original like this, an ideal date-night movie (in which Valentine’s Day plays a surprising role in the plot) buoyed by little more than a nifty premise and two undeniably talented performers, is doomed to a straight-to-streaming fate? Whatever the case may be, at least the filmmakers know and take full advantage of its strengths. Right from the outset, cinematographer Dan Laustsen (“Crimson Peak,” “The Shape of Water,” “John Wick: Chapter 4”) just can’t get enough of Anya Taylor-Joy’s expressive face through framing and lighting, brandishing it like a weapon as deadly and effective as any of the actual ones she uses to lethal effect. Meanwhile, world-weary exhaustion drips off Miles Teller’s unshaven face and the slumping set of his shoulders. Much of the first hour or so, which takes as patient an approach as I’ve ever seen in this age of streaming, unfolds with a minimum of dialogue and simply allows its two leads to act. Derrickson certainly doesn’t make things easy for himself, forced to dramatize profound yearning through little more than sniper scopes and hastily-scrawled messages.
But it’s no coincidence that Teller and Taylor-Joy — two stars uniquely capable of communicating so much with their eyes and body language alone — are more than up to the task and practically melt the screen with their sizzling chemistry. “The Gorge” introduces us to Taylor-Joy’s Drasa and Teller’s Levi as killers with a conscience, though each sniper handles their own doubts and inner turmoil in very different ways. Under the employ of Moscow, the haunted Drasa wrestles with guilt after every expert pull of the trigger and has nobody but her ailing father (William Houston in a brief, but sweet appearance) to whom she can unburden herself. Levi, meanwhile, is an ex-Marine whose unparalleled work as a mercenary private contractor concludes prematurely at the hands of a psychiatrist report deeming him “unfit” for service. Suffering from extreme burnout, his only recourse comes from sleepless nights spent boozing or writing scraps of poetry in his journal. Why recruit someone as broken as this into his most dangerous mission yet? In a great bit of casting, Sigourney Weaver taps into her inner bureaucratic monster as shadowy op leader Bartholomew, showcasing a ruthlessness that would impress Paul Reiser’s company man Burke from “Aliens.” In an early interview, her surgically precise questions reveal he lacks any emotional attachments whatsoever.
Taken together, Drasa and Levi couldn’t possibly be more well-suited for the thankless, year-long assignment in the middle of nowhere. Neither relish their abject loneliness, but both are at least better equipped to deal with it than anyone else. Or so they think. After taking the bold step of making contact with each other through handwritten signs from across the gorge, this protocol-breaking act soon gives way to long-distance chess matches, childish pranks, and straight-up flirting — oftentimes conveyed through showing off their sniper skills which, in the process, puts a whole new twist on (ahem) shooting your shot.
The mystery of The Gorge is fun, but not very satisfying
Thanks to this unique alchemy of tones and genres, the individual pieces of “The Gorge” add up to something greater — even if the pulpier sci-fi elements in the second half can’t fully live up to the promise of the first. When Derrickson and Dean inevitably switch gears once again and plunge us headfirst into the shadowy abyss, viewers have only a bare inkling of what awaits our two lovesick heroes. When Drasa and Levi first arrive, the little intel they receive involves some vague explanation about keeping creatures known as “Hollow Men” (a term taken straight out of a T.S. Eliot poem, as Levi observes, that plays a large thematic role in the script) from escaping the canyon. A cleverly-staged action sequence in the early going gives us a glimpse of these gnarly-looking monsters and the threat they pose as they attempt to scale the walls, though the scene’s primary purpose is to bring Drasa and Levi closer together. Once stripped of their high-tech gadgetry and the safety of their watchtowers, “The Gorge” turns into an odyssey into the unknown.
Now, if only Derrickson had leaned just a little more on the horror of it all throughout this fun, but unsatisfying middle act. At a runtime of two hours and eight minutes, almost half of which is dedicated to investing viewers in the personal arcs of Drasa and Levi, the actual meat of the story inside the gorge must make do with surprisingly limited time to make an impact. None of these genre-oriented thrills are ever boring, per se, but there’s only so far that the creative team can go with a PG-13 rating. While there’s never a moment of inauthenticity between Taylor-Joy and Teller (though some clunky one-liners and Taylor-Joy’s somewhat dodgy Lithuanian accent can feel distracting at times), the joys of watching them transform into characters from a “Resident Evil” movie or even Alex Garland’s underrated “Annihilation” can’t help but fade a bit — especially compared to the stirring romance drama riffing hard on “Rear Window” that precedes it.
“The Gorge” transforms into something close to survival horror here, but never commits. The action is well-staged and tense enough, as Derrickson and Laustsen have tons of fun moving the camera around to inflict maximum chaos. The end result, however, lacks that added spark needed to really blow anyone away with spectacle or get under anyone’s skin through horror. Making matters worse, it all builds to a series of reveals (“The mother of all secrets,” Drasa unhelpfully underlines at one point) that ultimately feels like a letdown.
The Gorge puts its money where its mouth is
Still, there’s something admirable about how “The Gorge” consistently looks and feels like, for lack of a better phrase, a real movie. Like Gareth Edwards’ “The Creator,” film nerds will come away impressed by how every cent of the budget ends up on screen. When we finally get a good look at the emaciated and environmental horror of the Hollow Men, the creature design evokes the practical joys of the infected in “The Last of Us” or Davy Jones’ crew in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (though it relies on VFX a little too often). The fully-realized sets, complete with heavy mood lighting that shifts from red to yellow to purple depending on the emotions of the moment, also bring a sense of style and atmosphere too often missing from big-budget blockbusters. (Production designer Rick Heinrichs, special effects supervisor Alistair Williams, and VFX supervisor Erik Nordby blow the Void and all its blandness from “Deadpool & Wolverine” out of the water here.) Through it all, Derrickson maintains a refreshingly timeless feel that only emphasizes how alone and cutoff these characters really are. Oh, and don’t let a thuddingly obvious needle drop or two (looking at you, “Blitzkrieg Bop”) undermine the steady work Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross put into the electronic score thrumming in the background.
All told, “The Gorge” has the makings of an all-timer experience that would’ve blown the roof off many a multiplex with a packed crowd … but instead settles for a solid, entertaining, and occasionally inspired genre-blending blockbuster that will hopefully find its audience on streaming. Action junkies, horror fiends, and romance enthusiasts have seen all of this done before and done better, sure. But it’s a rare kind of gem that even attempts to pack all of these disparate elements into the same package. It’s an even greater (dare I say pleasant) surprise that the last group will be the one walking away most satisfied by this, when all’s said and done. Killer action movies aren’t going anywhere, and neither is a resurgent horror genre. But a well-done romance? That’s worth celebrating these days — even one mostly conducted from the business end of a sniper rifle.
/Film Rating: 7 out of 10
“The Gorge” streams on Apple TV+ February 14, 2024.