I love movies about elite soldiers facing horrors beyond human comprehension. Watching a warrior’s arrogance and bravery, which comes from their ability to wield the latest cutting-edge weapon, evaporate when they realize their primitive ways of waging war are of no use is oddly satisfying. I suppose Aliens is responsible for this obsession, followed immediately by the enduring classic that is Predator.
Dog Soldiers is really underrated and should get a lot more attention from mainstream audiences. I didn’t like Annihilation at first, but upon rewatching it, I admired what it was going for. I fell in love with Overlord almost instantly. I’m not sure if it counts, but I’ll give Underwater a shout-out. Also, the Love, Death & Robots shorts set in this subgenre – The Secret War, Sucker of Souls, Kill Team Kill, and In Vaulted Halls Entombed – are incredibly re-watchable. And I’m so glad to add The Gorge to this list because I loved it so much.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: Zach Dean
Stars: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver
Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge, written by Zach Dean, tells the stories of two elite mercenaries, Levi and Drasa, who are hired by a mysterious company called Darklake and stationed in the West and East Towers (respectively), located on either side of a seemingly bottomless abyss. Drasa is a sniper from Lithuania who is burdened by the weight of the lives she takes and the fact that her father, Erikas, is slowly approaching his death due to his declining health. But when she receives a call from Rabinovich, she has no choice but to do his bidding, even if it means she won’t be around to look after Erikas. Meanwhile, from the United States of America, we have Levi, who used to serve in the Marine Corps, but now lives a life of self-imposed solitude. Bartholomew (that’s his name in the credits) brings him back to the front lines for the aforementioned mission, which he readily accepts because he has nothing else to do. Unsurprisingly, Levi and Drasa begin to form a bond, which compels them to bridge the gap between them. However, the horrors that exist within the title ravine and beyond threaten to bring their newfound zest for life to a premature end.
I didn’t watch the trailer for The Gorge before I saw the film. I trust Scott Derrickson. I was familiar with Zach Dean’s scripts. And I’m a fan of Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. So, I just pressed play and hoped for the best. Now, in case you intend to go into it as blindly as I did — which is something I highly recommend you do, because the tricks this film has up its sleeve are nothing short of phenomenal — I won’t give away any major spoilers here.
What I will say is that the film surprised me in ways I didn’t expect. You see, based on the plot synopsis and Derrickson’s work in the horror genre, I assumed the narrative would induce fear and dread through psychological means, while keeping things ambiguous enough to allow the audience to judge the authenticity of the characters’ experiences. So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the narrative veer into Silent Hill and Resident Evil territory to underscore its commentary on the expendable nature of soldiers and talk about how humans create hell on Earth by trying to play God.
The visuals in The Gorge have that digital haze overlay, which may be an intentional choice, but it’s something I don’t normally like. However, the use of color, environments, Rick Heinrichs’ production design, visual effects, special effects, CGI special effects, Dan Laustsen’s photography, Frederic Thoraval’s editing, and the relentlessness of the action sequences all made me look beyond my personal preferences.
As for the romance, it didn’t quite win me over because the film had the difficult task of giving the characters enough time to build a bond and also getting to the meat of the story as quickly as possible to keep viewers interested. So while I appreciated the fact that Derrickson didn’t beat around the bush for too long, I was skeptical about whether I would like Drasa and Levi by the end. Again, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself clenching my fists during many tense moments and rooting for both of them to get their perfect ending. Being a certified sad boy, I tend to gravitate toward sad people in fiction who find love in a completely hopeless place—I’m not a fan of the film. Plus, it's Valentine's week, so the love in the air probably helped, too.
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