Two untraceable snipers. One excellent movie. The Gorge is the newest movie to land on Apple TV+ that features A-list talent and not enough marketing.
From Scott Derrickson, director of Doctor Strange, Sinister, and The Black Phone, comes a sci-fi action film starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller as Drasa and Levi, two snipers stationed on opposite sides of a gorge. They don’t know what exactly is inside, but their job is to keep what’s inside from getting out. This movie could have been terrible, but it’s surprising how well-made it is.
Of course, it’s not exactly a challenge for Apple TV+ to find funding for their movies and shows. The Gorge has a lot of money behind it, and this screenplay allows us all the spectacle we hope for from a movie like this. I enjoyed writer Zach Dean’s work in The Tomorrow War, another science fiction actioner that combines a lot of intricate character work with awesome violence. The first half of this movie sets up our two leads. Levi lives a solitary life, while Drasa is about to lose her father.
Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver) recruits Levi to guard the gorge. The writing takes a fascinating turn here. Levi gets briefed on the history of the gorge by the current guard, J.D. (Sope Dirisu), who heard about its history from the guard before him and so on. It’s interesting when the movie paints how long this has been going on and the fact that every guard has learned about their assignments through a decades-long game of telephone. From here, Levi is stationed on one side, with Drasa on the other. They are not allowed contact, but Drasa isn’t one to follow the rules.
The Gorge is a tale of two halves. The first half is filled with intrigue. We have a sense of what’s inside, but mainly, we’re focused on Levi and Drasa. They end up making contact with each other by holding up signs, similar to the famous Love, Actually scene. From here, we have our hint as to what this movie secretly is: a romance film. They form a sweet, genuine connection that you actually care about. They’re two lonely souls who can’t hear each other’s voices but are able to find joy in each other. They can celebrate Christmas and they can have fun without saying a word.
Part of what makes it work is that the characters are not the hardened badasses that you would expect snipers to be. They have a lot of humor, particularly Drasa. There’s vibrance to both of their personalities, which is a step above the cliché trauma-ridden assassin. While they have sadder qualities, they feel like real people. As these two characters get to spend more time with each other, it’s hard not to fall in love with their dynamic. Teller and Taylor-Joy have believable chemistry as these two, and their performances are stellar. Taylor-Joy gives a particularly strong performance, which is no surprise given her consistently excellent work in her prior films and shows.
But what about the second half? This is where we get our answers about what’s inside the gorge, and Levi and Drasa must come face to face with what’s inside. This is where the film ventures more into your standard action territory. There are shootouts and fight scenes, sometimes feeling like a Resident Evil movie. The second half is not as strong as the first because this is where it falls into more of the conventions of the sci-fi action genre, but it’s all handled impeccably by Derrickson. He uses different colors to show different places within the gorge, such as red and purple, and this choice gives these scenes a real kick.
This film isn’t perfect—we have a few predictable ideas, and the exposition can be clunky at times. The sense of mystery always remains, but when we have our actual action scenes, they can look a little goofy. But this movie succeeds because we have Teller and Taylor-Joy, two excellent dramatic actors who know how to sell a good action scene and a love connection. Whenever the film leans into the relationship between Levi and Drasa, it works the best for me, even if some of it might cause a few eye rolls in the more jaded viewers.
The final act does its job, but it’s not exceptional. Overall, The Gorge surprised me and I would recommend that anyone who has a subscription to Apple TV+ watch it. It’s far superior to most action movies that go straight to streaming. When I spoke to the director about executing this film, he compared the structure of it to Titanic, another film that had its first half about love and the second half about action thrills. The filmmakers behind this movie understood that in order for us to care about the thrills, we have to care about the characters first. And they succeeded.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received a screener for our The Gorge review.
