“The Gorge” follows two expert snipers, Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), as they’re tasked with protecting the world from monsters while they are thousands of feet apart on either side of a deep gorge.
Director Scott Derrickson further solidifies himself as a talented and skilled filmmaker through his ability to blend genres seamlessly and keep viewers engaged primarily with his characters. Like genre soup, “The Gorge” carefully blends horror, action, sci-fi and romance in a way that never feels jarring.
In particular, Derrickson’s dive into romance sells the relationship between Teller and Taylor-Joy’s characters. For example, for around 20-30 minutes, the characters don’t speak but write on signs to communicate with each other at an extreme distance. Most directors could not sell chemistry in this way, but Derrickson’s direction allows the actors’ affections toward each other to feel truly authentic. Despite the heavy focus on the characters and how they react to the world unfolding around them, the story remains easy to follow and equally as impressive as the characters.
Seemingly responding to the fact that screenwriter Zach Dean wrote the script during the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Gorge” tackles themes like isolation, purpose and distrust of higher authorities. Given that these two characters are forced to be isolated on either side of the gorge, they must find alternative ways to communicate with each other — much like the world during the pandemic.
Adding depth to their stories, both characters have backgrounds as sniper assassins but struggle to find their purpose in life and constantly wonder if their sharpshooting skills can be used for the betterment of others. The film also explores distrusting authorities as these characters grow increasingly suspicious about why they’re protecting the world from what lies within the gorge.
Visually speaking, “The Gorge” proves very impressive. According to Derrickson, most of the set pieces in the film were practical, avoiding utilizing green screens as the primary set piece. Any CGI was built for touch-ups rather than used for the entire environment. This means the actors worked with tangible props and environments to make their performances more believable.
Overall, “The Gorge” stands as a testimony to Scott Derrickson’s directorial talents. Teller and Taylor-Joy give great performances and have remarkably believable chemistry, given the seemingly random pairing of these two actors. Thanks to Zach Dean’s masterful screenwriting, the movie allows viewers to either watch casually entertained or dive past the surface level of the film and character’s intentions depending upon the viewing experience they’d like to have.
4 sniper rounds out of 5
