When two goodlooking people separated by a fathomless gorge, unlikely to ever meet, find a way to come together, sparks are bound to fly.
And I am not talking about the muscled display of pyrotechnics that fly across every nook and cranny of this flaming-hot sci-fi, welded with a romantic overture that oozes possibilities. Regrettably, the narrative trajectory, with its multitudinous ghouls and digital demons, detracts seriously from what could have been one of the most persuasive love stories of this decade.
To set the roar on an upbeat, there are Miles Teller and Anya Taylor Joy (who is a joy to behold) playing what may be called two ships, flying ones, passing through the night. Or, so fate had willed, until Levi (Teller) crosses over to Joy’s side of the gorge, at a high human risk. But hell, when you are stuck above a gorge gorged with ghouls, with no hope of human contact, risking your life for a beautiful stranger on the other side of the chasm is well worth it.
The crossover is stunningly staged. Dan Laustsen’s wide-screen cinematography makes you pine for the big screen. Why are projects purposely designed as a movie-theatre experience, being squandered on a streamer? Why have movie producers become so enamoured of short-term benefits?
The Gorge is decidedly destined for big-screen glory. Its scale of presentation, that entire concept of a man crossing over to the other side—an emphatic metaphor of insurmountable hurdles in love-is so epic. Then there is the lead: so compelling, together and apart. They had the potential to be the Rose and Jack in the Titan of the skies.
Sadly, there is not enough of the Levi-Drasa alliance. More than the romance, it is the ghouls in the eponymous gorge—more gorge than the gorgeous, so to speak—which takes up the writer’s mindscape.
Director Scott Derrickson specializes in horror. But that is not what the protagonists of The Gorge were meant to be part of. They are conceived for better opportunities.
Take away the ghouls, and make a pure love story as a sequel.
As for The Gorge, it is well-shot, cleverly diabolic in its plot to capture our attention. With two such charismatic leads, it cannot fail to get our undivided attention.
