If you have an Apple TV+ subscription and have been on the platform for the last few days, you might have come across The Gorge. There's plenty to enjoy regarding the film, but when I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder how they came up with some of the concepts for the monsters that we see. Honestly, they're a sci-fi/horror fan's biggest nightmare, and as it turns out, screenwriter Zach Dean was encouraged to make them as horrifying as possible.
When speaking to Dean ahead of The Gorge's release on Apple TV+, the screenwriter said that it was the director, Scott Derrickson, who encouraged him to use the full extent of his "imagination." Yes, Virginia, he was told to make these creatures as grotesque as possible, telling CinemaBlend:
One of the great things about working with Scott was that when he came on, probably one of the few things that he talked to me about in terms of writing for rewrites was that he wanted to just push further. I was very untethered by the time he came on it, which was great because oftentimes it might not always work in that direction; but he was very much, 'Push it further, feel free to take it further,' which was great.
The Gorge often echoes some of the best sci-fi films out there, and I think a big part of that is the "direction" it took with it's monsters. In fact, there are plenty of practical usages when it comes to some of the beasts that both Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anya-Taylor Joy) encounter. I can almost guarantee they'll make you squirm in your seat. And that's exactly what Zach Dean was going for.
Because it's kind of like, again, you're sort of unleashed to let your imagination go. So I would say that in that way, that was probably the first of many amazing things that Scott did as director to come in…to basically encourage me to let The Gorge be everything as horrible as you can think it could be.
Truthfully, though, The Gorge being so well-executed is not that surprising. Scott Derrickson is the man behind many horror films, some of which are among the best horror movies out there. The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, and The Black Phone are just some of his many accomplishments. He even directed the first Doctor Strange film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it's clear he has dipped his toes into both the horrible and the surreal in the past.
I personally feel the fact he and Zach Dean worked together was a great decision. Dean himself has also had experience in the world of sci-fi with The Tomorrow War (which is hopefully getting a Tomorrow War 2 at some point). However, it's terrifying to see what they dreamed up working together with these creatures.
The 2025 movie schedule itself has a lot of new sci-fi releases, but personally, it's going to take a lot of time for me to get The Gorge's monsters out of my head, and I might need to dip my toes into some other movies in the meantime to not think about it. Time to check out some rom-coms.
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