On a Valentine’s Day when studios and streamers are steering clear of traditional romance (gory slasher Heart Eyes, goofy action comedy Love Hurts and dating horror The Dead Thing are among this year’s unconventional offerings), Apple TV’s The Gorge feels weirdly traditional in comparison. In any other year a film about two snipers holding guard over an abyss filled with monsters wouldn’t feel like standard date night fare but there are more traditional romcom beats here than one would expect and ultimately want.
When the film, from The Black Phone and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson, starts off in genre territory, there’s some low-level fun to be had. The setup has a non-triggering Covid-era feel to it, as Miles Teller’s soldier-for-hire Levi finds himself an unlikely new gig, spending the next year alone in a watchtower. In a brief handover from an underused Sope Dirisu, playing his predecessor, he’s told that the gorge beneath him must be guarded not from those trying to get in but holding strong against whatever might come out. He suggests it’s the gates of hell.
