The Gorge is an amalgamation of film genres that I don’t see enough of in Hollywood. There’s action, adventure, horror, sci-fi, and romance. Those genres are recognizable and beloved. But oftentimes it feels like people are scared to smash them all together. That’s what The Gorge did. But it gets better. Because they took all of those genres, put them in a pot, and then sprinkled a little bit of monster horror and survival on top. With Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy as leads, we ended up with a movie where you can’t help but cheer for the main characters but also want them to find their happy ending.
It’s about investment. And The Gorge made me invested in the story of Levi and Drasa to the point where the mystery of the gorge itself became secondary. Both Levi and Drasa were lonely people who might have never found each other if it wasn’t for this job. Both are highly skilled, have plenty of PTSD between them, and are willing to do whatever they can for the person they care for. And they chose each other. From the very first moment they shared their names, they chose. They continued to choose each other when they had little chest tournaments, went on patrol together, or asked each other about the other’s day. And this is all the while they were on opposite sides of the gorge and guarding something they fully didn’t understand.
The turning point of this movie wasn’t when we saw what was hiding in the gorge. Which, I’m going to talk about later on in my review. For me, it all changed when Levi saw how lonely Drasa was. He saw that moment of vulnerability and he chose to do something about it. Basically, if your boyfriend or husband wanted to, he would. Because Levi went and built a launcher to put a rope between their stations. And because this is a rom-com as well, he also brought her flowers.
Levi and Drasa meeting up led to a little bit of hijinks with his clothes, a little romantic dinner afterwards, and even some dancing with banter thrown in. Even after watching the movie, I’m still in awe that we got to see this sci-fi action monster film serve up a healthy dose of rom-com. Like we got to see Levi and Drasa teasing each other, supporting each other, and even forehead touching; the latter being the ultimate rom-com trope in my book.
When Levi goes to return to his side of the gorge, chaos strikes and he falls into the unknown. Now this is when I’ll say that if your girlfriend or wife wanted to, she would as well. Because Drasa did not even hesitate to go after Levi. She wasn’t dumb and just jumped in. She went and she got weapons and survival stuff and then jumped in after him. Everything was a choice between them. And they consistently looked at each other and said, “You are the one I want to face the world with.”
Having experienced Hollywood in the way that I have, I was cautious as to if The Gorge was going to give me a happy ending. Because, spoiler, they make it out of the gorge. And when the secret behind the gorge finally leads to the bad guys coming for them, they already had a plan for what they were going to do next. And again, they chose each other, so much so that they didn’t even know if the other had survived, but they had faith.
Meanwhile, I was sitting there going, “Hollywood, you better not do this to me again and do something cheesy like oh she’s pregnant. Forget that. I want them both to survive and be happy.” Hollywood honestly lives under this delusion that we don’t want a happy ending. We do. And Levi and Drasa get it. Point, blank, period. They get their happy ending after all the PTSD, monsters, and corporate espionage. And that’s a win for me that guarantees I’ll watch this movie again.
As promised, I wanted to talk about the character design of The Gorge. Because I didn’t care for the secret of it all or the mystery of why this split in the earth was being protected. Having a mysterious creature can make or break a movie if the design sucks. But what we got from these tree men was everything I loved about Annihilation. There was a simplicity to their design where you could see the humanity within them but it was slightly altered. The same thing could be said about the skull spiders and the tree that almost ate Levi. The art department wasn’t trying to invent something new. They took what we as the viewer know and used that familiarity to terrify you. And next to the romance, the character design for the creatures in The Gorge was the best part of this movie.
The Gorge is obviously not going to win any Oscars. But sometimes I don’t need that from my movies. Sometimes I just want to be entertained and taken on a journey with smart writing, memorable character design, and compelling characters. This movie had all three. And I loved that they released this on Valentine’s Day. Because I’m getting sick and tired of the Valentine’s Day slasher releases. Been there, done that. Give me more movies like The Gorge that respect the romance genre and make the two lead characters find themselves in each other through an action adventure filled with monsters and a mystery to survive, not solve.
The Gorge is now on Apple TV+.
This movie didn’t just hit all the major genres, but did so very smartly. And yes it had me fully invested. I watched it again the very next day. Because after it scared and thrilled me, it delivered on my investment and gave me a happy ending I didn’t feel the need to roll my eyes at, and that is a very rare thing. Do yourself a favour and watch it yourself