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The Gorge

The Gorge




Rated PG-13 - for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, some suggestive material and thematic elements.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Miles Teller, Sigourney Weaver
Running Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes
Apple TV+ Release Date: February 14, 2025


READER RATING:   


Plot Summary

Two highly-trained operatives become close after being sent to protect opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. When an evil emerges, they must work together to survive what lies within. (from IMDb)


Film Review

Scott Derrickson's The Gorge starts off incredibly strong, blending romance, action, and sci-fi into something that feels genuinely fresh. The setup is fantastic; Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy turn in stellar performances, their chemistry making the film's unconventional "long-distance" relationship dynamic both amusing and endearing. The humor lands well, the action sequences are tight, and the world-building is (initially) just vague enough to keep things intriguing. (By the close of the first half, I was convinced this was going to be one of my favorite films of the year.)


Then, the film starts explaining itself.

The best mysteries work because they leave room for the audience to chew on the unknown, and The Gorge overplays its hand. The reveal of a generic "greedy private military corporation doing unethical experiments" is painfully uninspired, dragging the story into predictable Jason Bourne-lite territory. It's the kind of "twist" that would have felt more at home in a lesser sci-fi thriller, not in a film that had been so meticulously building something unique. The problem isn't that The Gorge eventually takes us into the Gorge itself -- that much was inevitable. The issue is how much time it spends there and how drastically the film shifts gears (and staggers along the way), eroding both atmosphere and believability. What began as a weirdly sweet, high-concept romance with strong genre-blending ends up bloating into an extended action-heavy slog that undercuts its own mystique.


Sigourney Weaver is more than fine, but her character lands in an awkward in-between space, underdeveloped yet given just enough presence to feel like a tacked-on afterthought. And while the film does eventually find its way back to its romantic core, the emotional payoff isn't as potent as it should be. The audience needed to be more invested in their story, and the final scene just needed stronger writing. It should have been more gripping and intimate, not buried beneath so much unnecessary spectacle.


That said, The Gorge is still a really good film. The cinematography is strong, the sound design and licensed track selections are excellent (including a fantastic instrumental nod to "All Along the Watchtower"), and the first half alone makes it worth watching. If Derrickson (one of my favorite directors) had kept his cards closer to his chest and trusted the story's more intimate strengths, this movie could have been something truly legendary. As it stands, however, it's an ambitious, well-acted, and mostly entertaining film -- just one that doesn't quite stick the landing.

- David Craft (reviewed: 3/13/25)

 

 

Parental Guide: Content Summary


. Sex/Nudity: There are a couple of instances of passionate kissing between the lead characters. One scene implies intimacy between them, but nothing explicit is shown - just a fade-to-black moment of them embracing on top of one another (fully clothed). Some mild flirtation and suggestive dialogue occur infrequently, but there is no nudity or overtly sexual content; We see a man's bare butt briefly
. Vulgarity/Language: 1 "F" word, 8 "S" words, 1 "b*tch," 6 "h*ll" (and 1 "h*ll" written in a caption); 1 "d*mn"
. Alcohol/Drugs: A main character mentions drinking nightly to suppress PTSD, and we later see them doing so. There are a few scenes featuring alcohol consumption by the leads, and a discussion of making "potato vodka."
. Blood/Gore: Some minor blood in a few scenes, including close-ups of bandaged cuts (from glass, shrapnel) and bruises. (i.e. A man removes glass from a cut in his foot.) A character is stabbed by a branch, and some blood is seen; A person is shot through a sniper scope and some blood splatters on a woman near the victim; The monsters are like humans mixed with plants/branches, and we see them blow into pieces at different times with being shot or blown up. Large spiders are shown blowing to pieces when being shot, too; We see the decaying states of skeletal remains; A creature's head is blown off; An animal's head is cut off; A bridge has a gooey growth of creatures interwoven and seething in a breathing manner growing around it, which looks creepy and disturbing.
. Violence: Numerous tense action sequences involving light horror elements, humanoid creatures, drones, gunfire, and a helicopter crash (which kills those on board). Characters are in peril during a series of escalating confrontations. They are attacked, bludgeoned, knocked out, and almost eaten. A character is shot by a sniper (not graphic, seen from the sniper's scope), and another character is suddenly shot in the head by a perceived ally. A side character with terminal cancer discusses plans to take their own life on a specific day; The creatures are often shown being blown apart of being dismembered; A bridge has a gooey growth of creatures interwoven and seething in a breathing manner growing around it, which looks creepy and disturbing; A sequence in an abandoned church involves the monsters attacking our heroes while large spiders are also attacking them.

 

Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer's opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer's overall rating.

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