Scott Derrickson is a director who has made horror films and an MCU movie during the span of his career so far. He’s progressing more and more as a director. He has worked with a lot of big stars in his day, and he got to work two mega stars in his latest film, The Gorge. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor Joy are two actors who are in the stratosphere of their careers right now. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to get them for this movie. The story, though, was probably the main reason. It’s got some story elements that will resonate with many who watch it. It did for me, that’s for sure.

The gist of the story behind The Gorge is this. Two snipers, one Russian Drasa (Anya Taylor Joy) and one American, are stationed on opposite sides of a gorge at two different towers. They must not have any contact or communication with their counterpart on the other side of the gorge. Their main mission is keeping what’s in the gorge, whatever that may be, in the gorge and not letting it get out. Unfortunately for them, they get bored and start communicating via large notepads. They have a lot in common despite the fact that the countries they belong to are bitter enemies of each other. 

You couldn’t have a Scott Derrickson film without some twists and turns, though. The unplanned relationship between these two snipers causes them to create circumstances that previously haven’t happened around the gorge. They inevitably end up in the gorge, like you didn’t see that coming, where they come across some mutated creature from the past experiments that took place in the location of the gorge. This has been there forever since WWII, where the Americans and Nazi’s were both trying to come to a consensus on how to stop the war while also trying to conduct secret experiments of their own. 

In the gorge, there was a specific filming style. The amazing cinematography by Dan Laustsen was once again on display here as he used multiple color pallets to create the fog of the gorge. The fog was a toxin, and so whoever breathed it could bring it back to the surface with them if they weren’t treated properly. What the pair learn in the gorge about history and their two countries is astounding. Peace is a thing we all should seek, but rarely do because of greed and power. The story was written by Zach Dean, and I’m sure he and Derrickson collaborated quite a bit on giving this story a perfect mix of sci-fi nature and a grounded in reality aspect. The mix of these two was very evident while watching this film. I was so glad to see something new and original that wasn’t boring or lost its way in its translation from script to screen. This is a very relatable story to me.

I’m a big fan of Miles Teller, ever since I saw him in Rabbit Hole. he has taken roles as a boxer, fire fighter, and jet pilot to just name a  few in his stellar career so far. He could easily have phoned in any one of those performances, but he didn’t. Just like the one here as a special forces trained sniper. He shines though opposite Taylor-Joy. They have amazing chemistry. The scenes where they were getting to know each other via large notepads were funny and touching at the same time. Derrickson knew these two would work well together in this story about two sides that are adversaries more often than not.

Anya Taylor-Joy has become one of the biggest actresses in the world. Her performances in The Witch, The Menu, Emma, and Split have shown her range and incredible ability as an actress. She has played many characters with different accents, This time out, she plays a character with a Russian accent, but she has a lot of similar interests as Americans. It just shows that people from different countries still have a lot in common with each other even though the leaders of said country don’t see eye to eye. Taylor-Joy and Teller brought that to the forefront of this story perfectly.

One thing about this movie and many others we sometimes forget is the soundtrack of the films we watch. This one has a few songs from The Ramones “Ay Oh Let’s Go”  to “Come Oh Ye Faithful” during Christmas. These songs fit into the vibe of the relationship aspect of this story perfectly. I love it when the songs that are in a particular movie fit so well with what the director and script are trying to say in a particular story.

I love to hear people say there aren’t enough original ideas anymore in Hollywood. There are so many reboots, sequels, reimaginings, and prequels these days. It’s hard to find something original. I’m here to say this is a new original film that has something important to say about society and the two different countries who are at odds with one another. The message, though, was not that much different. The Gorge throws in a lot of what fans of Derrickson will like, but it also has some sci-fi craziness. The two lead performances by Teller and Taylor-Joy are fantastic. I was so glad to see these two, who are two of my favorite actors working right now, working together in the same film. The cinematography and music are also very good in the movie by Dan Laustsen and Score by Trent Reznora and Atticus Ross. This is the kind of movie that is going to take your mind off of things going on in the world even though it’s very relatable. 

Streaming on Apple Tv + February 14th

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen