If you like a little romance and horror with a sci-fi twist alongside your Valentine’s Day dinner, The Gorge may be on your radar. Director Scott Derrickson’s newest project, hitting the 2025 movie calendar on February 14, covers quite a few genres in the story of two snipers guarding either side of what looks like the gates of hell in The Gorge’s trailer. Critics were able to screen the movie ahead of its release to Apple TV+ subscription holders, so let’s see what they’re saying.
Miles Teller stars in his first blockbuster since Top Gun: Maverick, while Anya Taylor-Joy has enjoyed a successful past few years with The Menu, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Dune: Part Two, to name a few. The Gorge is unlike any of those — it’s a sci-fi horror action flick with enough romantic comedy to justify its Valentine’s Day release, but with so much going on, is it hitting with critics? David Ehrlich of IndieWire says The Gorge doesn’t deliver on a potentially rich premise, instead turning predictable and shallow. The critic gives it a C, writing:
The movie is only 35 minutes old when it gives us a clean look at the creatures trying to climb their way to the surface…, and one clean look is all it takes to lose interest in where they came from. Alas, The Gorge doesn’t see things quite the same way. On the contrary, the movie fatally overestimates the appeal of its monsters and their habitat, and the fun comes to a screeching halt when our characters plunge into the Gorge itself and begin to learn the truth about what their governments have been trying to hide.
Dan Jolin of Empire also gives it a middling grade of 3 out of 5 stars, saying The Gorge is best appreciated as an unlikely romance, but none of the movie should be taken too seriously. Jolin continues:
The action-horror elements are solidly squealy (skull-spiders!), if beset by not-quite-there CGI and a rather underwhelming revelation about the gorge itself. Along the way, [Zach] Dean’s script suffers the occasional clunk and clang: after narrowly surviving an extended monstrous encounter, Taylor-Joy sighs and says, ‘That was so surreal.’ Ya think?! But still, like we said: not to be taken too seriously.
Where some of the critics think the romance story was The Gorge’s strength, Tyler Nichols of JoBlo doesn’t buy the chemistry between Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. Too much focus is put on the romance instead of exploring the gorge’s more intriguing horrors. This movie is more enjoyable if you can turn your brain off, Nichols says, writing:
Ultimately, The Gorge feels very ‘been there, done that.’ It probably could have worked quite well as a limited series, where the more human moments have time to breathe and the world building has more time to flex itself. As is, the story feels very stereotypical, the characters one-dimensional, and a love story that doesn’t really work. Just when it feels like they’re going to take a unique step, they instead just walk a familiar path at every turn. While the concept was intriguing, this will likely be lost in the cinematic chasm of new releases.
Therese Lacson of Collider gives it a 4 out of 10 despite several compliments, including calling it an enjoyable ride with dynamic action sequences, a charming love story and monsters with an ick factor. The Gorge may be enough for those simply looking for a popcorn movie with equal parts action and romance, but that isn’t enough to justify how “painfully predictable” the action is. Lacson says:
I was never once curious about what was at the bottom of the gorge, because anyone who watches movies regularly can put together the pieces in an instant. The clues are all there and rather than trust the viewer to put things together, every answer is spoon-fed with a convenient out to ensure the characters make it to the next checkpoint. And, in many ways, The Gorge often feels like a video game. But this is far from a compliment. Certain scenes feel almost like formulaic gameplay sequences where characters go from a cut scene into action mode. Injuries are overcome quickly, impossible feats suddenly become possible, and there's no way out until there suddenly is one when you get to a new location.
Agreeing on its ability to entertain, IGN’s A.A. Dowd gives the movie a “Good” 7 out of 10, arguing that The Gorge should have been given an opportunity on the big screen. The critic writes:
The first hour, which plays like a romantic comedy perched on the edge of a hellmouth, is more novel than what comes after. But even when The Gorge disappears into generic run-and-shoot action, it benefits from the colorful confidence of Derrickson’s staging and a ’50s-inflected sci-fi score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. At its worst, this solid genre exercise still looks worthy of the theatrical release Apple didn’t grant it.
Many critics are pointing to the predictability of the plot, and with The Gorge feeling like two separate movies, it’s nearly inevitable that they would prefer one over the other. Even with more average reviews, if this sounds like a movie that’s intriguing enough for you to check out, you can do so starting Friday, February 14, and be sure to check out the other best movies to watch on Apple TV+ while you’re at it.
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