The Gorge (2025) is directed by Scott Derrickson and stars Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu, William Houston, and James Marlowe. The film follows two highly trained soldiers from opposing world powers who are each tasked with guarding opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. Although the two soldiers are expressly ordered to avoid any kind of contact with one another, they quickly build a romantic connection through a series of written messages. When tragedy strikes after they discover what’s lurking in the gorge, the two soldiers/lovers find themselves in a desperate fight for survival. When it becomes clear that the gorge holds secrets to an even larger government conspiracy, the duo sets out to stop those responsible. 

Although it’s fun to see Sigourney Weaver as the story’s shady government official, this is a two-character show that focuses a majority of its runtime on the relationship between Levi (Teller) and Drasa (Taylor-Joy). The film uses almost its entire first half to build their relationship – something that could’ve easily felt drawn-out and boring, but there’s a truly sweet connection between the two. Instead of falling in love due to unrealistically serious conversations/trauma dumps, they connect through humor and small acts of kindness. It’s not as flashy as some big romantic gesture that wins one of their hearts, but it is a lot more authentic. Because the action provides all the flashiness the film needs, it allows the romance to be a bit more low-key (comparatively). When the story reaches the point where these characters make rash/emotional decisions based on their love for one another, we’re willing to go along with it because their romance feels true. My only issue with these characters is that after they meet, the script sort of abandons them as individuals. Once together, they share the same motivations/ideas and essentially work as a single unit. I suppose it reflects their love for one another, but it also eliminates any opportunity for conflict between the two – something that would help to amplify tension as well as make them more complex/interesting as individuals.

The action sequences are compelling from beginning to end. They’re clearly shot, varied, and just plain badass. The large budget feels like it’s put to good use, so much so that it’s disappointing this didn’t get a release on the big screen. Some of the CGI is a bit spotty, and the creature designs are creatively underwhelming, but it’s more forgivable in a movie that relies on such large-scale visual effects. They’re not always great, but they never feel unnecessary for the story being told. The original and compelling premise is a lot of fun, especially in the first half. Unfortunately, once the film starts to address the various questions it raises early on, the answers are either cheesy, forgettable, or frustratingly cliche. Don’t get me wrong, the second half isn’t a disaster by any means. It’s still a lot of fun; it just devolves into a more typical blockbuster as it moves along. 

Overall, this is an extremely fun genre film that, for the most part, delivers on its original premise and succeeds equally as both a sci-fi horror film and a romantic action film. If you overanalyze what the movie has to offer, you’re sure to find plenty of plot holes and leaps in logic. However, it’s nothing that ruins the experience. It’s just something that holds it back from really blowing a person’s mind. When considering the occasionally wonky pacing and inconsistent visual effects, it’s no doubt an objectively flawed experience. That being said, its visceral genre thrills outweigh a majority of these technical flaws. I feel very similar to this film as I do about The Creator (2023). Flaws and all, this is the kind of original blockbuster that audiences crave, and I pray to a higher power that Hollywood keeps making them. B