Alright I'll bite: what's the gorge and do you recommend it
I LOVED it, because I like (a) extremely competent, extremely screwed up people in love and (b) horrifying government conspiracies and (c) living environments and (d) genre flips that aren't quite genre flips because they're telegraphed in advance but you wouldn't get from A to B on your own.
the premise is that since the end of WWII, the West and the East have maintained two watchtowers on either side of a mysterious gorge, each staffed by a single soldier for one year whose job is to keep what's in the gorge from ever coming out. the occupants of the gorge are mysterious humanoids who periodically attack the watchtowers and other defenses on either side and who were nicknamed the "Hollow Men" by the first guardian of West Tower. in 2024-2025, the two new guardians are Levi Kane (Miles Teller) in West Tower, a former USMC scout sniper, and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), a former mercenary (?) sniper, in East Tower. even though the two guardians aren't supposed to have any contact with each other, they begin communicating with signs and over several months fall in love. they set up a zip line and Levi travels over the gorge so that he and Drasa can meet in person. on his way back, the zip line snaps and he falls into the gorge. Drasa goes after him, and then things get Weird. (this is at almost exactly the halfway point of the film. very well done genre flip.)
the best way I can describe the level of Weirdness is that it's like seeing a T. Kingfisher horror novel onscreen. if you have problems with body horror this film is probably not for you; the trailer hints at it, but there's significantly more in the film itself and it's beautifully done. (I have no idea how much was practical effects vs. CGI, though googling tells me that it was an interesting combination of the two -- that link will give away parts of the twist, btw.)
anyway I LOVED it, half this movie is a romantic comedy and the other half is action/adventure + horror, and they actually do work pretty well together. (I should say that even though I say "romantic comedy" and there definitely are funny parts, it's not actually a comedy.) some parts of this movie are "don't think too hard about it" but that's true about anything.
also but seriously if you have problems with body horror do not watch this movie. it is beautifully done, but it is significant.
