The Gorge (film)

Two elite snipers receive identical missions: guarding opposite sides of a remote, top-secret gorge for one year without any contact with their counterparts or the outside world. Levi Kane, a former U.S. Marine Scout/Sniper, is recruited by a mysterious woman named Bartholomew to guard the west tower. Drasa, a Lithuanian covert operative frequently employed by the Kremlin, guards the east tower. Levi suffers from PTSD-induced nightmares, while Drasa's terminally ill father Erikas plans to die by suicide on Valentine's Day.

Levi relieves his predecessor J.D., a former British Royal Marine corporal, who explains that the location is kept hidden by powerful cloaking antennas, and the towers are armed to contain monstrous creatures within the gorge, nicknamed "The Hollow Men". J.D. warns of "Straydog", an unknown emergency protocol, and that battalions of soldiers sent into the gorge in the late 1940s never returned. Believing he is being exfiltrated, J.D. is instead killed on Bartholomew's orders.

After several uneventful months, Drasa violates the no-communication protocol on her birthday, engaging Levi in conversation via written signs and a sharpshooting competition. A wave of Hollow Men attempt to climb out of the gorge, but Drasa and Levi use their rifles, automated turrets, and mines to defend their towers and each other. As time goes on, they bond from afar.

Six months into their posting, Levi ziplines across the gorge to have dinner with Drasa. They spend a romantic night together, and he reveals he is writing a poem for her. The next morning, as Levi returns to his tower, his cable snaps when mines are detonated by Hollow Men, forcing him to parachute into the gorge. Arming herself, Drasa parachutes after him.

The pair discover that all plant and animal life within the gorge has been cross-mutated, including the Hollow Men, revealed to be the missing soldiers from decades past. Fighting off the hostile lifeforms, Drasa and Levi find the source of the mutations: a World War II bioweapons research lab abandoned after an earthquake caused a contaminant leak that produces symptoms within five days. The facility has since been maintained by Darklake, a private defense corporation extracting hybrid samples in hopes of creating super soldiers.

Drasa and Levi discover "Straydog" is the original fail-safe protocol to sterilize the site with a nuclear explosion. They find a working Jeep with a towing winch, using it to climb out of the gorge as they fight off the Hollow Men, and agree to separate for five days to ensure they are not infected with the mutagens. During Levi's monthly radio check-in, Bartholomew admits that she works for Darklake and orders him to kill Drasa. Aware that the two snipers have discovered the truth, Bartholomew dispatches a team to eliminate them.

Bartholomew and her men arrive to find the towers abandoned. Drasa and Levi outgun the armed drones sent after them and destroy the cloaking antennas, exposing the site to surveillance and triggering "Straydog's" detonation. Bartholomew and her men are killed in the blast, and the area is destroyed, while Drasa is separated from Levi and completes her five-day self-quarantine.

She reaches France to rendezvous with Levi, who does not appear, and discovers that he left her the completed poem in an envelope marked "IF I DON'T MAKE IT, OPEN AT SUNSET." Some time later, Drasa has begun a new life as a waitress in a local restaurant. She is surprised by Levi's arrival, which was delayed by an injury, and they kiss.

• Miles Teller as Levi Kane
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Drasa
• Sigourney Weaver as Bartholomew{{cite web | url=https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-gorge/umc.cmc.26o403koqo2klixc0jtqy6tmc | title=Watch the Gorge - Apple TV+ | date=February 14, 2025 | access-date=December 8, 2024 | archive-date=December 8, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208060056/https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-gorge/umc.cmc.26o403koqo2klixc0jtqy6tmc | url-status=live }}
• Sope Dirisu as J.D.
• William Houston as Erikas{{Cite web |last=Gearan |first=Hannah |date=2024-05-15 |title=The Gorge: Scott Derrickson's Next Movie Gets Intriguing Genre Tease From Anya Taylor-Joy |url=https://screenrant.com/the-gorge-movie-scott-derrickson-genre-anya-taylor-joy/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}

Zach Dean wrote a spec script for The Gorge that was later voted onto the Black List of the most-liked unproduced screenplays in 2020.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-black-list-2020-desus-and-mero|title=The Black List 2020: Scripts About Cannibals, Billionaires, and Tabloid Faves Make the Cut|first=Yohana|last=Desta|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=December 14, 2020|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=April 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421212907/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/the-black-list-2020-desus-and-mero|url-status=live}} In March 2022, Scott Derrickson was set to direct and produce the film alongside Skydance Media.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/scott-derickson-gorge-skydance-1234980948/|title=Scott Derrickson To Direct 'The Gorge' For Skydance|first=Justin|last=Kroll|date=17 March 2022|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=November 6, 2022|archive-date=May 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529055445/https://deadline.com/2022/03/scott-derickson-gorge-skydance-1234980948/|url-status=live}} In August, Miles Teller was cast to star, as well as serve as an executive producer.{{cite web |last=Kroll |first=Justin |title=Miles Teller To Star In And Executive Produce Skydance's The Gorge For Black Phone Director Scott Derrickson |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/miles-teller-skydance-the-gorge-black-phone-scott-derrickson-1235099757/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=22 March 2023 |date=August 25, 2022 |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208221151/https://deadline.com/2022/08/miles-teller-skydance-the-gorge-black-phone-scott-derrickson-1235099757/ |url-status=live}} In October, Anya Taylor-Joy joined the cast, and Apple Original Films signed on.{{cite web |last=Kroll |first=Justin |title=Apple Original Films Boards Skydance's The Gorge With Anya Taylor-Joy Set To Co-Star Opposite Miles Teller |url=https://deadline.com/2022/10/apple-original-films-skydances-the-gorge-anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller-1235140627/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=11 October 2022 |date=October 11, 2022 |archive-date=October 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011180349/https://deadline.com/2022/10/apple-original-films-skydances-the-gorge-anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller-1235140627/ |url-status=live}} Sigourney Weaver was added to the cast in March 2023.{{cite web |last=Kroll |first=Justin |title=Sigourney Weaver Joins Miles Teller In The Gorge For Apple And Skydance |url=https://deadline.com/2023/03/sigourney-weaver-miles-teller-apple-skydances-the-gorge-1235275370/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=1 March 2023 |date=March 1, 2023 |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522220613/https://deadline.com/2023/03/sigourney-weaver-miles-teller-apple-skydances-the-gorge-1235275370/ |url-status=live}}

The film includes a scene where the characters bond across the gorge, with the two playing chess and banging on improvised drum sets, recalling breakout roles of the actors: Taylor-Joy as a chess prodigy in The Queen's Gambit (2020) and Teller as a drummer in Whiplash (2014).{{cite news |last=Hedash |first=Kara |title=One Scene In Anya Taylor-Joy & Miles Teller's New Horror Movie Brilliantly Calls Back To Their Best Leading Performances |url=https://screenrant.com/anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller-the-gorge-scene-queens-gambit-whiplash-factoid/ |website=Screen Rant |date=15 February 2025 |archive-date=February 16, 2025 |access-date=February 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216160122/https://screenrant.com/anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller-the-gorge-scene-queens-gambit-whiplash-factoid/ |url-status=live }} Teller and Taylor-Joy have said that the scenes were written before they were cast, that they felt the scenes were a bit on the nose and tried to get them changed, and that Derrickson insisted the scene remain.{{cite magazine |last=Huff |first=Lauren |title=Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller tried to remove those Queen's Gambit, Whiplash nods in The Gorge |url=https://ew.com/the-gorge-tried-remove-queen-gambit-whiplash-nods-8787359 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=14 February 2025 |access-date=February 19, 2025 |archive-date=February 16, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216194903/https://ew.com/the-gorge-tried-remove-queen-gambit-whiplash-nods-8787359 |url-status=live }}

Filming began in March 2023 in London, with production at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, where the tower interiors were built on a stage.{{cite web |title=What's On Screen and Filming in London: March 2023 |url=https://filmlondon.org.uk/latest/whats-on-screen-and-filming-march-2023 |website=Film London |access-date=22 March 2023 |date=March 8, 2023 |archive-date=May 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514020754/https://filmlondon.org.uk/latest/whats-on-screen-and-filming-march-2023 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=2023 film and HETV productions shooting in the UK: latest updates, strike status |url=https://www.kftv.com/news/2023/08/15/2023-film-high-end-tv-productions-shooting-uk-latest-updates-strike-status |website=Kemps Film and TV Production Services Handbook |access-date=14 March 2024 |date=August 15, 2023 |archive-date=March 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314202114/https://www.kftv.com/news/2023/08/15/2023-film-high-end-tv-productions-shooting-uk-latest-updates-strike-status |url-status=live}} The Rauma River in Norway served as the location for the forest and gorge exteriors, while Llandudno in Wales stood in for Èze in France.{{cite news |last=Papadopoulos |first=Charles |title=Where Was The Gorge Filmed? The Apple TV+ Sci-Fi Horror's Filming Locations Explained |url=https://screenrant.com/the-gorge-movie-filming-locations-explained/ |website=Screen Rant |date=14 February 2025}} Visual effects were done by DNEG and Framestore with production VFX supervisor Erik Norby.{{Cite web |last=Assistant |first=Admin |date=2025-03-25 |title=FRAMESTORE DIVES DEEP INTO THE GORGE |url=https://www.vfxvoice.com/framestore-dives-deep-into-the-gorge/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=VFX Voice Magazine |language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Animal Friends and The Gorge in production at DNEG |url=https://www.dneg.com/animal-friends-and-the-gorge-in-production-at-dneg/ |website=DNEG |access-date=25 February 2024 |date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225223038/https://www.dneg.com/animal-friends-and-the-gorge-in-production-at-dneg/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-gorge-exclusive-first-look-at-the-genre-blending-film-starring-miles-teller-and-anya-taylor-joy|title='The Gorge': Exclusive First Look at the Genre-Blending Film Starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy|last=Vejvoda|first=Jim|date=October 15, 2024|access-date=October 31, 2024|website=IGN}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/miles-teller-anya-taylor-joy-the-gorge-trailer-1236079217/|title=Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy Stand Guard at the Gates of Hell in Apple Films' 'The Gorge' Trailer|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Zoe|last=G. Philips|date=December 7, 2024|access-date=December 7, 2024}}

The Gorge had its world premiere at the AMC Theatres at The Grove in Los Angeles on February 13, 2025, with the cast and crew in attendance.{{Cite web |title=Apple Original Films celebrates the premiere of "The Gorge" alongside Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy |url=https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/02/apple-original-films-celebrates-the-premiere-of-the-gorge-alongside-stars-miles-teller-and-anya-taylor-joy-director-and-producer-scott-derrickson-and-more/ |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Apple TV+ Press |language=en-US |archive-date=February 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220061751/https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/02/apple-original-films-celebrates-the-premiere-of-the-gorge-alongside-stars-miles-teller-and-anya-taylor-joy-director-and-producer-scott-derrickson-and-more/ |url-status=live }} The film was subsequently released for streaming exclusively on Apple TV+ on February 14, 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-gorge-exclusive-first-look-at-the-genre-blending-film-starring-miles-teller-and-anya-taylor-joy|title='The Gorge': Exclusive First Look at the Genre-Blending Film Starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy|last=Vejvoda|first=Jim|date=October 15, 2024|access-date=October 15, 2024|website=IGN}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/miles-teller-anya-taylor-joy-the-gorge-trailer-1236079217/|title=Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy Stand Guard at the Gates of Hell in Apple Films' 'The Gorge' Trailer|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Zoe|last=G. Philips|date=December 7, 2024|access-date=December 7, 2024}} It became Apple TV+'s biggest launch for a movie ever, surpassing Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2025/02/miles-teller-anya-taylor-joy-the-gorge-apple-tv-plus-biggest-movie-launch-1236296017/|title=Apple's Miles Teller-Anya Taylor Joy-Starrer 'The Gorge' Becomes Streamer's Biggest Movie Launch|website=Deadline|date=February 20, 2025|access-date=February 20, 2025|archive-date=February 20, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220175805/https://deadline.com/2025/02/miles-teller-anya-taylor-joy-the-gorge-apple-tv-plus-biggest-movie-launch-1236296017/|url-status=live}}

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|63|5.9|140|Mixing multiple genres, The Gorge makes for a surprisingly endearing romance until its action-thriller obligations steer proceedings back onto a more predictable path.|ref=yes|access-date=April 20, 2025}} {{Metacritic film prose|57|29|ref=yes|access-date=February 20, 2025}}

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave The Gorge a positive review, saying, "'The Gorge' takes an already implausible premise and then catapults it out of the espionage genre and into science-fiction and horror ... this movie crackles most as a lively pas de deux between Taylor-Joy and Teller, who commendably take their material seriously no matter how seriously ridiculous it gets."{{Cite news |first=Glenn |last=Kenny |title='The Gorge' Review: How Deep Is Your Love? |work=The New York Times |date=February 13, 2025 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/movies/the-gorge-review.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250213184859/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/movies/the-gorge-review.html |archive-date=2025-02-13 |url-status=live}} The Daily Telegraph's Tim Robey gave it 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "What The Gorge does supply is a novel science-fiction premise and some captivating bursts of suspense. There was potential for this mysterious action romp to be something more special – a keeper, even. But we'll take what we can get".{{Cite news |last=Robey |first=Tim |date=2025-02-13 |title=The Gorge: Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller make a good team in this suspenseful sci-fi horror |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-gorge-review-anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=March 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317115924/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-gorge-review-anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller/ |url-status=live }} IGN's A. A. Dowd gave it a score of 7 out of 10, saying, "Even when The Gorge disappears into generic run-and-shoot action, it benefits from the colorful confidence of Derrickson's staging and a '50s-inflected sci-fi score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross."{{Cite web |last=Dowd |first=A. A. |date=2025-02-13 |title=The Gorge Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-gorge-review-apple-tv-plus-anya-taylor-joy-miles-teller |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=IGN |language=en}}

Jack Coyle of the Associated Press gave the film one and a half stars out of four, calling it "preposterous", arguing that the tonal swings between action and romance were not of high quality, with the movie feeling like an "intriguing but empty genre mash-up and streaming-only exercise". Coyle also took issue with the basic structure of the plot, arguing that "If some version of hell was pried open, would we, perhaps, want more than two guards?"{{cite news |last=Coyle |first=Jack |date=2025-02-13 |title=Movie Review: 'The Gorge' is ridiculous |url=https://apnews.com/article/gorge-review-anya-taylorjoy-miles-teller-f3ad7e12f0b817fa6beca382a14e4d47 |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=Associated Press |archive-date=February 15, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250215003645/https://apnews.com/article/gorge-review-anya-taylorjoy-miles-teller-f3ad7e12f0b817fa6beca382a14e4d47 |url-status=live }} The Guardian's Benjamin Lee gave it 2 out of 5 stars, writing, "despite looking like it was based on a video game that your younger brother obsessively plays, The Gorge is in fact an original, or whatever that word means when the plot and aesthetic feel like they've been stitched together from so many other films."{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Benjamin |date=2025-02-14 |title=The Gorge review – guarding hellish monsters is aphrodisiac in silly horror |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/14/the-gorge-review |access-date=2025-04-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Samantha Puc of The Mary Sue wrote, "Had The Gorge stuck more strictly to the romance, it would overall be a much better film. Unfortunately, once Levi and Drasa become physically intimate, the movie pivots to a strict action-thriller and becomes almost distressingly predictable."{{Cite web |last=Puc |first=Samantha |date=2025-02-19 |title='The Gorge' suffers because it's afraid to embrace its true genre: weird romance |url=https://www.themarysue.com/the-gorge-suffers-because-its-afraid-to-embrace-its-true-genre-weird-romance/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=The Mary Sue |language=en}}

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