Time: 127 Minutes
Age Rating: M
Cast:
Miles Teller as Levi Kane
Anya Taylor-Joy as Drasa
Sigourney Weaver as Bartholomew
Director: Scott Derrickson

The Gorge is the latest movie directed by Scott Derrickson and stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. With those three, I was at least interested in it, even if it looked like a fairly generic sci-fi thriller. I actually liked it more than I expected to.

This movie essentially has two distinctly different halves. The first half is about the relationship between the main two leads played by Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy who are snipers positioned on opposite sides of the titular gorge, and the second half is more about them exploring the gorge. It does take a bit for the movie to settle in, but once the two leads begin communicating with each other, it picks up. I really liked the first half, I enjoyed spending time with these two characters, especially considering that the majority of that time is them communicating in silence from a distance apart from each other. The second half with the gorge was entertaining too, but I was less invested in it, and it felt more derivative and conventional. It doesn’t help that the central relationship that was built up was largely thrown out for this gorge stuff. While the mystery of the gorge is interesting at the start of the movie, the actual reveal of it later on was a little disappointing. The climax was the weakest part of the movie, it almost felt added on just to wrap up the story. The movie is over 2 hours long and you do feel the runtime, and it really does have some pacing issues at points.

Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy are really good in the lead roles. Their dynamic and chemistry is the strongest part of the movie by far. They are genuine and captivating, and it was just enjoyable to watch them interacting, even before they met each other in person. Sigourney Weaver is also solid in her very small screentime.

Scott Derrickson’s direction is decent. It’s generally well made for the first half. When it gets into the gorge in the second half it does change up the colour pallets a lot, and I liked the monster designs even though they were very CGI heavy. Some of the actual shots in the gorge could be hit or miss however. The action sequences are very video gamey with the two leads mowing down hordes of creatures and while they were entertaining, it didn’t reach a point where it felt tense. One of the highlights of the movie was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score which honestly did elevate the whole film for me.

The Gorge is an entertaining sci-fi action horror, if a little derivative and overlong. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy are really good, and the score is great.