The Gorge Review: A Love Story Worth Fighting For

Valentine’s Day is here, and Apple TV+ delivers the perfect blend of romance and action with The Gorge.

Whether you’re watching solo or with someone special, this thrilling new film is the perfect way to spend the holiday.

The film follows Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), two highly trained operatives stationed in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast, classified gorge. As they protect the world from a lurking, mysterious evil, they form an unlikely bond. But when the threat finally emerges, they must join forces to survive the horrors within.

2025 hasn’t been a particularly promising year for films so far, thus making it easy to approach The Gorge with hesitation and low expectations.

However, it’s no surprise that director Scott Derrickson crafts an immersive, captivating, and electric world for viewers to enjoy, given his past projects such as Doctor Strange, The Black Phone, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

One of The Gorge’s most striking elements is its simplicity. Throughout its two-hour, seven-minute runtime, there are never more than five characters on screen at a time.

While this may not seem significant at first, the lack of background characters or distractions reinforces Levi and Drasa’s mission’s isolation. This makes it easier for us to stay engaged with the pair, who are the only characters the audience truly gets to know.

Despite brief glimpses into Levi and Drasa’s pasts, such as Levi playing with a couple’s dog on the beach before being taken to meet Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver) or Drasa visiting her mother’s grave with her father, the film quickly narrows its focus to the two protagonists.

Their remote assignment, in a location they aren’t even allowed to know, further enhances the feeling of solitude.

The film’s structured, military-like feel is also reinforced through its editing choices. The use of straight-cut transitions gives the story a clean, disciplined flow, much like an army base, while the division of the film into months helps track the timeline of their year-long mission.

Of course, as a romance film, The Gorge naturally builds a relationship between Levi and Drasa despite their strict orders not to communicate. Luckily for us, the characters don’t follow that rule, and Teller and Taylor-Joy bring undeniable chemistry to the screen.

From the moment they spot each other through binoculars, Levi and Drasa’s expressions reveal a deep desire to connect. Despite the physical distance, their love radiates through the screen as they find creative ways to spend time together.

Teller and Taylor-Joy perfectly capture the yearning and growing affection, making their relationship feel authentic.

Their banter and natural connection make it easy to root for them, and by the end, viewers can only hope for a sequel — or at the very least, another romance project starring the duo.

With so many strong points, it’s difficult to find any major flaws in The Gorge.

However, there are two drawbacks. The first is that the film could have been shorter and more in-depth. Some sequences during Levi and Drasa’s first few months at their stations, as well as certain moments inside the gorge, drag on, seemingly just to meet the film’s runtime.

If the filmmakers felt the need for a two-hour runtime, it would have been more beneficial to use that extra time to explore the history of the Hallow Men and the backgrounds of Levi and Drasa.

Yes, Levi discovers a recording explaining that the gorge virus was initially meant to be a biochemical weapon during World War II, but after an earthquake damaged the missiles, the leaked chemicals contaminated the air and fog.

While the film establishes who the Hallow Men are, how they’re created, and the government’s interest in their DNA for super-soldier development, it never fully explains how the town was built or its true nature.

Beyond seeing Drasa’s sniper skills in action and witnessing Levi’s night terrors, the film doesn’t provide much insight into how these characters became who they are. This makes it difficult to fully connect with them, though their present relationship does help bridge that gap.

Overall, The Gorge successfully accomplishes its mission of being an engaging and entertaining action-romance film that anyone, whether single or in a relationship, can enjoy. 

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What did you think of The Gorge? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Gorge is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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