THE GORGE
Starring: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, and Sope Dirisu
Director: Scott Derrickson
NICK
Although the concept of "the gatekeepers to Hell" is an interesting one, it's undone by a film that's clearly flawed. We could talk about the lack of chemistry between Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy that creates a steady disconnect as their relationship grows. Or we could talk about the incredibly dated effects that reminded me of films like Van Helsing, which released more than 20 years ago. Or the sloppy edits, or the jarring tonal shifts… I could go on. The Gorge may have been well set up for success (notable cast, successful director, Black List script), but it wasn't able to achieve it.
QUENTIN
There are two movies in The Gorge — a decent one about snipers protecting the world from “the door to hell,” and the other about two loners finding love in the unlikeliest of situations; however, director Scott Derrickson doesn’t execute either one particularly well. Despite intriguing (if overly expository) world-building, the “Hell” story suffers from poorly shot action sequences and shoddy CGI. Meanwhile, the “love” story is ruined by Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy’s lack of chemistry and the meager emotional investment generated from two people passing notes. One can see glimmers of why this script was on the Black List, but as a film, it’s mediocre.
KATIE
Initially, there seemed to be a lot to like about The Gorge – a strong cast that features Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller, a compelling concept, and a reliable director – before it becomes something else entirely. The romantic connection between characters prohibited from contact and entrusted with guarding a mysterious, undisclosed threat is an interesting idea, but is quickly discarded in favour of a less interesting, more predictable story that heavily relies on poor-quality CGI. The effects are bad, the scenes look flat, and the action set pieces are lifeless. Overall, The Gorge fell short of all my expectations.
PAIGE
Even though The Gorge feels like two movies sloppily combined into one, I was nonetheless entertained by it, even if I expected better from director Scott Derrickson. The first half is a somewhat ominous tale of two lone snipers who are the "gatekeepers of hell" finding love in an unexpected place, while the second half turns into a high-concept, sci-fi action film with strong video game influences. These intriguing concepts should have been better handled so the movie flowed as one. At least it includes decent performances from Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller, as well as another rad score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whose work elevates the movie.
AMARÚ
The Gorge is a weird hodgepodge of tonally throwing shit at the wall, that is both interesting and completely confounding. It jumps from character drama to wacky rom-com to horror sci-fi to action romance, and it’s hard to pin whether it’s sterile or stimulating. From scene to scene, the answer to that question relies on the two leads’ performances, and apologies to Miles Teller, but there’s a gorge-sized gap between his and Anya Taylor-Joy’s appeal. Whether she’s laughing, crying, or killing, you only really want to watch her, even as she carries Teller to the end of this winding ride.
ROBERT
If you cobbled together the love story of Upside Down with the antagonists of I Am Legend and the conceit of Chernobyl Diaries, you would have The Gorge. When there is a mystery and burgeoning romance, you can see an interesting concept, but once it steers hard into sci-fi action, it falls off a cliff (literally). Miles Teller gets to drum at some point, so you remember when he was at his apex, but otherwise, you shouldn’t care. Scott Derrickson tried an amalgamation of all genres of movies he directed prior, but it screams “lack of cohesion” into the void.
BODE
In its attempt to mesh a long-distance romance between haunted assassins with B-movie thrills, The Gorge has the type of genre-bending ambition that I can admire theoretically. However, though director Scott Derrickson sets things up with a fair amount of intrigue, it increasingly reveals itself as a hollow and derivative exercise, not helped by inorganic shifts in tone (bookended by some out-of-place needle drops), and a lack of chemistry between stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. Dan Laustsen’s cinematography and a nervy score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross elevate the material, but, for the most part, it’s ultimately forgettable.
