The Gorge (2025) review

Former Marine sniper Levi Kane (Miles Teller) is approached by a "government employee" named Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver) and asked to stand guard at a tower on the west side of a massive gorge for an entire year and disobeys orders by communicating with Lithuanian mercenary Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy) on the opposite end and then using a zipline to cross over - after spending romantic time together, Levi falls into the ravine, Drasa parachutes down to help him and they have to fight off humanoids covered in branches and bugs.  This is a better-than-average sci-fi picture that kind of works, in part, because it doesn't reveal everything at once, and the shift from thin Cold War allegory to a video game-inspired shoot-'em-up (think Resident Evil-meets-Contra) is a welcome change-of-pace.  The movie sometimes strains plausibility and the CGI is a little spotty, although both Teller and Taylor-Joy are more than capable as action stars ... even though their most recognizable roles are from Whiplash and Netflix's The Queen's Gambit (respectively).  Still, it confirms what I've always said about ladies from old Soviet territories: they're a ton of fun, just don't challenge them to a drinking contest (you'll wind up underneath the floorboards).