The Gorge (2025) Review

Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge is a film that proudly revels in its absurdity, a hybrid of genres stitched together with the confidence of a director unafraid to push the limits of plausibility. Equal parts military thriller, sci-fi horror, and starry-eyed romance, it’s the kind of film that begs you to leave logic at the door and simply enjoy the ride. And for a while, it works. With Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy delivering charismatic performances, and some impressively weird creature design lurking in the depths, The Gorge almost succeeds in being the gloriously over-the-top spectacle it aspires to be. Almost.

The premise is delightfully ridiculous. Levi (Teller) and Drasa (Taylor-Joy) are elite snipers stationed on opposite sides of a vast, mist-filled gorge, tasked with preventing whatever lurks below from escaping. Their only human contact is each other – though their respective military handlers forbid communication. Naturally, this rule is ignored almost immediately. Through silent exchanges, flirty whiteboard messages, and some well-timed vinyl records (yes, Drasa has a turntable in her tower), a romance blooms, and soon, Levi is zip-lining across the gorge for dinner dates. It’s a setup so absurd it should collapse under its own weight, but Derrickson directs it with such sincerity that, against all odds, it charms.

But The Gorge doesn’t just want to be a high-concept romance. At the midway point, the film shifts gears, literally, as Levi plunges into the abyss, and Drasa follows. Here, Derrickson leans into his horror credentials (The Black Phone, Sinister), introducing mutated monstrosities, grotesque biological horrors, and a creeping existential dread about what’s really going on down there. The designs of the creatures – particularly a wheezing, malformed entity that suggests all manner of terrible things – are suitably unnerving. There are shades of Annihilation in the unsettling way the environment twists and mutates. But while Garland’s film built on its mysteries, The Gorge simply barrels forward, opting for shootouts over psychological tension.

And that’s where The Gorge begins to unravel. The film’s strengths lie in its quieter moments, Teller and Taylor-Joy selling the loneliness of their predicament, the tantalising uncertainty of what lies below. But once they’re in the gorge, the film becomes just another action-heavy sci-fi chase, complete with shadowy conspiracies and overly ambitious CGI. It doesn’t help that Sigourney Weaver, playing a vaguely sinister government figure, is utterly wasted, delivering exposition rather than menace.

The final act drags on, stretching what should be a lean, propulsive narrative into something bloated and oddly deflating. By the time the credits roll, The Gorge feels like a film that had everything – romance, horror, spectacle – but no idea what to do with it all. Teller and Taylor-Joy’s chemistry keeps things engaging, and Derrickson’s eye for the unsettling ensures some memorable imagery, but ultimately, it’s a case of too many ideas pulling in too many directions. The Gorge is undeniably fun, often thrilling, and occasionally mesmerizing. But it’s also a film that doesn’t quite know when to quit, and in the end, it loses itself in its own abyss.

Movie Rating:

The Gorge trailer