The Gorge – Movie Review | Apple TV+ (4/5)

THE GORGE on Apple TV+ is a Sci-Fi Monster movie with a love story at its heart. This may sound strange, but really, it’s to help get us involved before it turns into a horror story with action and adventure. A very entertaining genre hybrid. Read our full The Gorge movie review here!

THE GORGE is a new Apple TV+ Sci-Fi Monster movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller as two highly-trained and efficient snipers, who get a job protecting the world. It’s oversimplifying, obviously, but that’s the core premise.

Well, okay, along with the fact that these two operatives fall in love while trying to keep us all safe. So yes, this is a romance story (which would explain the Valentine’s Day release date) combined with sci-fi, horror, action, and adventure. The runtime is just over two hours and it works.

Horror fans should also be happy to know that Scott Derrickson is directing!

Continue reading our The Gorge movie review below. Find it on Apple TV+ from February 14, 2025.

Secret mission and surprise romance

Please don’t let the “romance” element of The Gorge keep you from watching this. While I never mind a good love story in any genre, it’s often even more efficient in horror and thrillers. When there’s someone to lose, the separation and horror usually hits harder.

With The Gorge, the two highly-trained operatives from the West and the East (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, respectively) are given a year-long mission. They are placed in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast gorge.

Where in the world this gorge is and what resides at the bottom of the gorge is unknown to both them and us. This is a highly classified mission, but something is at the bottom. The mission for the operatives – both world-class snipers who are used to working alone – is to protect the world from an undisclosed danger.

WATCH THIS IF YOU LIKED

The Netflix movie Love & Monsters – though this is much darker >

Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy) is from Lithuania, and Levi (Miles Teller) is from the US. They are continuing a decade-long mission to protect the world from each side. Even during the Cold War, this mission continued because it works outside conventional political channels.

Although they are not meant to communicate, they do need to work together, so Draca quickly ignores this rule and contacts Levi. As a result, they work together even better to protect each other and the rest of the world.

The most wonderful cast

The two absolute stars are, of course, Miles Teller (Spiderhead) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu). If these two didn’t work, then The Gorge wouldn’t work either. Fortunately, they deliver interesting individual characters and have good chemistry. Not just in a romantic sense, mind you.

I loved how Drasa is at least as good a soldier as Levi. In fact, in ways, she’s clearly bolder and better than him – something he also recognizes. In a world, where it’s the two of them against an unknown enemy, who wouldn’t want the best possible partner at their side?!

EASTER EGGS IN THE GORGE…

Notice the two activities Drasa and Levi engage in together: First, they’re playing chess, then they’re jamming on the drums. Anya Taylor-Joy was a chess genius in the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. Miles Teller was a brilliant drummer in the award-winning movie Whiplash.

The big boss sending Miles Teller’s Levi on this mission is Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters). Also, we have Sope Dirisu (His House, Silent Night) as J.D., the man ending his year-long mission and introducing Levi to the job. He doesn’t know much about the gorge either.

Oh, and for the record, once you [the viewer] are introduced to what’s in the gorge, the movie turns a lot darker. The “residents” of that place reminded me of something from The Last of Us in the creepiest of ways!

Watch The Gorge on Apple TV+

The new Apple Original Film is directed by Scott Derrickson, who previously gave us Sinister (2012) and most recently The Black Phone (2021) and a segment of V/H/S/85. Also, I will always adore him for The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) starring Jennifer Carpenter in the title role.

The genre-bending Apple TV+ movie comes from writer Zach Dean (The Tomorrow War), and I clearly like the way his mind works. Apparently, he came up with the idea for this movie during the pandemic lockdown. That would explain the isolation of our main characters, who are fighting an invisible enemy.

Also, I am a sucker for genre-hybrids that manage to incorporate the various genres in organic and entertaining ways. I was certainly also more entertained by The Gorge than I ever anticipated.

Sure, there are some lines and moments here and there that feel a bit heavy-handed with “stereotypical one-liners” that are a bit cringey. But that’s the kind of sci-fi monster romance horror thriller that can get away with it. Well, in my book, anyway.

Check it out on Apple TV+ and see for yourself. I can’t imagine genre fans won’t at least enjoy some parts of it. Personally, I enjoyed the combination of all its elements.

The Gorge is on Apple TV+ from Valentine’s Day, so that’s February 14, 2025.

Details

Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: Zach Dean
Stars: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu, Ruta Gedmintas, James Marlowe, William Houston, Julianna Kurokawa