The Gorge

Despite its inherent dumbness this sci-fi, action, horror, romance mostly hits its target.

Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

---

I will be the first to admit that director Scott Derrickson’s “The Gorge” (streaming on Apple TV+ beginning Friday, Feb. 14) is built on a pretty silly and stupid structure, but I’ll be damned if its dumbness didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the picture.

Miles Teller stars as Levi, an ex-Army sniper and sometime contractor suffering from PTSD with few to no connections in civilian life. He’s approached by government spook Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver) to man a tower above the western face of our titular chasm in an undisclosed country with orders to shoot to kill anything that emerges from below.

On the eastern side of the canyon in her own better-appointed tower (it has booze, records, a record player and a cool-looking arsenal) is Russian hitter Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy). She has similar orders from whomever her handler may be.

Days turn into weeks and weeks into months. Levi and Drasa begin communicating with each other via binoculars, marker boards and oversized notepads (much like Ving Rhames and that hippie dude in Zack Snyder’s “Dawn of the Dead” remake … only sexier) – a big no-no per their orders. Flirtation turns to friendship and they begin funning with one another – shooting contests, drum-offs (a nod to Teller’s “Whiplash”) and chess matches (a nod to Taylor-Joy’s “The Queen’s Gambit”). Sure, they’re both lonely, but a real connection has been established. The man and woman connection is only a zip line away.

“The Gorge” is written by Zach Dean (he previously penned fellow Skydance production “The Tomorrow War”) and plays as a hodgepodge of Michael Mann’s “The Keep” and Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise.” This goes to some weird and wacky places when Levi and Drasa find themselves at the bottom of the abyss, but I was here for it and generally found the designs and execution fun and exciting.

The film succeeds most through the performances of its leads and the chemistry they share. Teller plays Levi with an earnest sweetness. Taylor-Joy imbues Drasa with fun and fearlessness anchored in a sadness underneath. These two just click on screen and I’d be open to seeing them together again in a sequel or some other sort of project.

“The Gorge” is a sci-fi, action, horror, romance that looks and sounds great thanks to the lensing of frequent Guillermo del Toro and “John Wick” cinematographer Dan Laustsen and a score by the prolific duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It’s a winner.