The Gorge: Romantic assassins in the middle of a Lovecraftian landscape 

One of the most promising releases of the beginning of the year in the streaming world has been the blockbuster film The Gorge, released on February 14 (a very appropriate date) immerses us in a world of conspiracies and apocalyptic threats while surprisingly integrating romance in an organic way, all happening in an impressive and huge space of isolation. The Gorge is a film that shows you a display of original monsters and a landscape worthy of a Lovecraft nightmare, but to your complete surprise, what you will end up remembering is the romantic part. The trailer already warned of that, but let's break down director Scott Derrickson's new film to see why this is so.

Two elite snipers are assigned to guard the gigantic cliff of a distant location for an undetermined time. Each one protects a side of the cliff that was assigned: Levi Kane protects the western side while Drasa guards the eastern side, representing the interests of the United States and Russia to keep hidden that place; a very cold war context where they make it clear that both countries keep a secret that is not convenient for the world to know.

In general terms, The Gorge feels like a very artificial blockbuster in the treatment of the photography with filters that generate very overlapping chromatic layers where the colors are too intense, as well as in the editing where the scenes tend to happen very fast; this can be seen in the scene where Levi goes through different places until he reaches his corresponding military base which seems to have been filmed this way to publish it in tik tok as a reel. Leaving aside these minor weaknesses of this film, let's address its greatest strength: its leading couple.

Romantic chemistry among apocalyptic secrets

The film shows a time tracking where the killers remain separated by the colossal cliff, here it plays a lot with the theme of isolation and nonverbal language, making the slow and progressive interaction between the two feel not only real, but also natural. Here it plays very well with nonverbal communication. Both are feeling the effects of absolute isolation and have no choice but to start looking for a friendship with the person on the other side to feel a human connection, and they begin to achieve this with signs and markers that the other can read due to the great physical distance between them that prevents them from carrying a spoken communication. Do you remember the adorable scene of Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln in Love, Actually (2003) with the latter declaring his love through this method to her? If you liked that scene you'll love this part of the story.

The choices of Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller are no accident. Both bring the eye candy touch to make their respective characters curious and attracted to the point that they spy on each other with their rifle scopes and binoculars, however, the involvement of both in this film also implies the career point they are currently at. Miles Teller here looks like he's almost straight out of Top Gun: Maverick (2022), and it's good to see that the days of his failed entry into blockbuster cinema with Josh Trank's forgotten Fantastic Four (2015) are behind him. For her part, Anya Taylor-Joy gives the impression that she is no longer willing to fight for the crown of scream Queens or indie film princesses, but now has her sights set on making a name for herself as a badass action heroine, and her starring role in Furiosa (2024) was just the first step towards this goal, as she has once again acquired a radical look and brings out a lot of fury in this film as well.

Irregular survival

Having reached this point, I have to invite the reader who has not yet seen The Gorge to consider the idea that this is an entertaining film, that the chemistry between its protagonists is fulfilling, and that there is no need to ask more from this film, because if you expect more from this Apple Studios blockbuster, you are in for a slight exception. The Gorge was conceived to highlight more the “boy-meets-girl” part than the part where the two lovers have to contain and then survive an inhospitable ravine plagued by zombie-like creatures, and the conspiracy that has left them to their fate in such an inferno. As a romantic film it's a hit but as a set-up for a sci-fi horror scenario it's a “take it or leave it”.

Let's start with the fact that here is Scott Derrickson, the man who brought us Black Phone (2021), Deliver us from Evil (2014) and Sinister (2012). Taking those works into account here you might expect a high sense of tension and suspense. Having an entire movie where the protagonists have to swing back and forth to survive the underworld of mutants and deadly toxic waste should imply a scenario where this very prominent horror director shines, offering something that could emulate the likes of The Last of Us or Annihilation (2018). What actually turned out was that Derrickson seemed intent on filming the 2000s Resident Evil movie that never got made. The atmosphere of the apocalyptic landscape is not well exploited, and although the hollow men shine at the beginning, then you get the feeling that even the weakest orc in Lord of the Rings would have given more trouble to the protagonists than these beings, very original in design but not very effective as threats (and they even had monstrous horses at their service).

While Teller and Taylor-Joy manage to grab the audience with their flirtation that later leads to a symbiotic (as well as romantic) relationship, the characters alone could not stand up for themselves. The internal conflicts they carry from before they go to the mountainous gorge are not strong enough to give them any real backstory. All that matters is that they know each other, like each other and will do anything to end up together after that mission. And the other thing is that after they inevitably descend into that hellish abyss, everything happens in a deus ex machina fashion. They are supposed to have entered into a situation where nothing trained them to deal with it, but the way the hollow men and their surroundings are handled is almost devoid of tension. Drasa and Levi go down without a scratch, taking several of the mutants with them and giving them time to figure out the conspiracy behind it all and even come up with the plan to destroy that abyss with its inhabitants. Derrickson didn't take more advantage of the forbidden environment concept, and we see our badass couple take it like it's just another day in the middle of a mission. Sigourney Weaver's presence is to give that conspiracy a face, imagine they borrowed her character from The Cabin in the Woods (2011), take away all the dark deity stuff, add a more corporate capitalist undertone, and give her enough screen time to not consider her a cameo (still, I'm pretty sure Sigourney Weaver never says no to being in a monster movie).

I want to make it clear that I am not against science fiction movies having the romantic component as a strong weight of the story. Drasa and Levi's romantic relationship is very nice and helps to bring the viewer into the story. It is the survival part where the danger of the secret abyss is not reflected and this could have been worked better. I'll give you a famous example where this did work out - Aquaman (2018). The biggest hit of the defunct DCEU was driven by the relationship between Aquaman and Mera, and yet, director James Wan (another name associated with horror films) was able to manage to squeeze in a scary scene which was the moment when the protagonist couple faces the terrifying amphibious beings in the pit. That scene did make us fear for the heroes of the story. It is strange that a director like Derrickson, used to dark films and with experience in action movies (he directed the first Dr. Strange movie), could not find the balance between the romantic tension of the protagonists of The Gorge, and the feeling of survival and fear that implied showing the Lovecraftian landscape of that cliff.

The Gorge was intended to be the alternative to last Valentine's Day, the romance was well worked as well as the sense of isolation in that cliff, but when both protagonists have to descend to that underworld of mutants the film loses consistency and does not quite meet to reflect the apocalyptic threat they have to keep hidden. This is not an instant sci-fi classic, but it may find its audience if the expectations are lowered.