Scott Derrickson’s horror romanceThe Gorgeis an unusual movie, crossing several genres at once. As the movie was released on Valentine’s Day, it was very clear thatThe Gorgewas being marketed at couples looking to watch something less predictable than a cozy romantic comedy.The Gorgeis about two snipers who fall in love while on duty watching over a mysterious gorge.The Gorgeis one ofAnya Taylor Joy’s best moviesyet, and her character is an embodiment of the movie’s genre mashup, being both silly and deadly, often in the same scene.
The Gorgestill has many classic romantic comedy moments, but it mightmake viewers argue over which genre it belongs to, as it also contains scenes that are horror and sci-fi staples. That said, mashups are almost in a class of their own, and thegenre has blown up in the past ten years. The nature of a genre mashup means that these movies are often unique, and fans ofThe Gorgemight think that similar movies would be few and far between. However, there are many options for similar movies to watch next.
Alien
Cast
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction horror film that follows the crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo. Upon investigating a distress signal on a distant moon, they discover a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and became a seminal work in both the sci-fi and horror genres, known for its atmospheric tension and groundbreaking visual effects.
Alienstars Sigourney Weaver as the warrant officer Ellen Ripley, who finds herself battling some of the most terrifying creatures in the sci-fi genre, often single-handedly. The movie might have a different setting and color palette fromThe Gorge, but it often has the same claustrophobic feeling, especially during the scenes in which we can see the creature hiding before Ripley can.Sigourney Weaver’s role inThe Gorgeflips her role inAlien, which is arguably the movie that defined her career, making her a sci-fi icon.
In theAlienmovies, Ripley often finds herself fighting against a governing body who are aware of the threat posed by the Xenomorphs, but has chosen to study them instead of protecting civilians.In recent years, Weaver often appears as the exact opposite of Ripley, now playing the secretive government official herself. Weaver has played this character type in the alien comedy,Paul, the meta horror comedyThe Cabin in the Woods, and now inThe Gorge, where she gets more screen time, which is always welcome.
Monsters
Monsters is a 2010 science fiction film directed by Gareth Edwards. The story revolves around a photojournalist and a tourist navigating through an infected zone in Mexico, created after a NASA probe crash brings alien life forms to Earth. The film explores their journey amid the looming threat of extraterrestrial creatures, blending elements of drama and suspense.
Gareth Edwards' moviestend to be visually stunning, which lends itself to the sci-fi genre. Made for just $500,000,Monstershad a much lower budget than his other large-scale productions, but this is what put Edwards on the map as a director.The story hits many of the same beats asThe Gorge, with a plot involving two people and their growing romantic chemistry, with a monstrous threat looming in the background.
MonstersandThe Gorgeare both beautiful and terrifying, and the scenes in which the central characters navigate their new environment evoke the same sense of unease. Still, the characters are different enough thatMonstersis a great movie to watch afterThe Gorge. WhileThe Gorge’s snipers, Levi and Drasa, pose a real challenge to the Hollow Men,Monsters' Andrew and Samantha are just trying to survive, which gives the movie less action but more suspense.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The Curse of the Black Pearl is the film that kickstarted the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a series of supernatural swashbuckling adventures. In 1720, blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate “Captain” Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor’s daughter Elizabeth Swann, from Jack’s former pirate allies, who are now undead.
The bestPirates of the Caribbeanvillainsare unforgettable.The Curse of the Black Pearlstarted strong with Captain Barbossa’s undead crew, butDead Man’s Chestcreated some of the scariest villains in the franchise. Davy Jones’s octopus head is creepy, but the crew ofThe Flying Dutchmanare nightmare fuel. The doomed pirate crew appears partly human and partly made from barnacles and coral, andthis disturbing blend of human and nature is used to great effect inThe Gorge.
The Gorge’s Hollow Men & Mutated Creatures Explained
The mysterious Hollow Men are the antagonist monsters of 2025’s The Gorge. Here’s what we know about the horrifying creatures from the film.
The Hollow Men living in the gorge are victims of the mist that covers it. This mist blends their physicality with the plants and animals that originally lived in the area, creating a terrifying range of hybrids, none of whom look the same. ThePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise shares little withThe Gorgein terms of plot, but its special effects are extremely similar.Viewers who lovedThe Gorgefor the visual effects should watchPirates of the Caribbeannextfor a closer look at similar creatures.
Annihilation
Alex Garland’s Annihilation is based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. It follows a group of explorers - comprised of biology professor Lena (Natalie Portman), psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson), geomorphologist Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Nvotny), and paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) - as they enter “the Shimmer”, a quarantined zone of mutated plants and animals caused by an unknown extra-terrestrial phenomenon. Lena agrees to enter the Shimmer in search of her husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), who was sent in as part of a special forces operation.
The Gorgeintroduces its horrors relatively slowly, giving audiences a glimpse of the Hollow Men before immersing Levi and Drasa in the gorge itself, which is beautiful despite its danger.Annihilationuses a similar pacing and visual style, showing one creature at a time before the disturbing final act.Unlike many dusty and sepia post-apocalyptic movies,Annihilationuses a rainbow paletteand barely explains its creatures, which are created in the same way asThe Gorge’s Hollow Men.
Annihilationstars Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac in a potentially doomed relationship, as both enter the anomaly known as “the shimmer” at different times.Annihilationposes many questionsabout how the creatures came to be, but the answer also applies toThe Gorge. The people and creatures in both movies are affected by their DNA merging with that of the animals and plants in their surroundings, producing the hybrids in both movies.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film directed by Scott Derrickson. Starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu and Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson, the film is a modern reimagining of the 1951 classic. Klaatu arrives on Earth to deliver a message that will affect the entire human race, prompting a scramble to understand his intentions amidst global tension.
Scott Derrickson is best known as a horror director whose movies use his distinctive cinematic style to make many scenes beautiful even while being disturbing. This approach can be seen inThe Gorge, but it emerged early on withHellraiser: InfernoandThe Exorcism of Emily Rose.Scott Derrickson developed his visual style further in his first major sci-fi movie, an ambitious remake of the sci-fi classic,The Day the Earth Stood Still.
WhileThe Day the Earth Stood Stillhas been considered one ofthe worst sci-fi movie remakes, this is not necessarily fair. The original movie was so well-loved that any attempt to remake it would likely have drawn criticism. LikeThe Gorge, Scott Derrickson’sThe Day the Earth Stood Stillhas a theme centered around saving the planet. That said, it leaves out the romance plot, giving viewersa movie with the same director and look asThe Gorge, but in a different genre.
The Mist
Stephen King’s terrifying novel is brought to the screen with The Mist - a horror-thriller film directed by Frank Darabont. When a small town suddenly sees a giant rolling fog arrive, they show mere curiosity. But when people begin to die mysteriously within, several survivors hold up in a grocery store as they attempt to find a way out and survive - unfortunately, the dangers don’t just come from outside- they also come from within.
The Gorgesaves some of its scariest monsters for toward the end of the movie, as Drasa and Levi make their way through the gorge. The two snipers discover that the more areas they explore, the more Lovecraftian the creatures grow, ending with what appears to be a hybrid human hive-mind.LikeThe Gorge, Stephen King’s harrowing horror storyThe Mistcloaks its Lovecraftian creatures from the viewer, giving audiences a sense of foreboding throughout the movie.
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The Mistis a good option for people who want to watch a scarier horror film afterThe Gorge.The Mistevokes a constant sense of dread throughout the movie, whileThe Gorgeonly begins to do this when Drasa and Levi are in the gorge itself. That said,the ending ofThe Mistis infamous for being one of the most heartbreaking of any horror movie, and there is no romantic happy ending here.
Love and Monsters
The post-apocalyptic movie Love and Monsters follows a young man who sets out to find his girlfriend in a monster-infested world seven years after the apocalypse. Dylan O’Brien and Jessica Henwick star, with Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, and and Ariana Greenblatt in supporting roles.
Love and Monsterscontains many of the same elements asThe Gorge, including a love story, some elaborate and inventive monsters, and several funny scenes. This makes the two movies an excellent option for a double-feature movie night. That said,Love and MonstersandThe Gorgeare still two extremely different movies. There is much more comedy inLove and Monsters, which stars Dylan O’Brien as a young man on a mission to find his girlfriend after an apocalypse has kept them apart for seven years.
Love and Monstersstill has a 94% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for an Academy Award for its visual effects. The monsters are just as interesting as the ones inThe Gorge, and the movie looks like a much higher-budget production than it was. As the ending is not the typically satisfying scene that is found in most romances, viewers have understandably been looking out foraLove and Monsterssequel. This has not happened yet but has not been ruled out.
Last Sentinel
Last Sentinel is a 2023 sci-fi thriller set in the near future (via the 2020s), where climate change’s threat has become a reality, with billions dead and only two continents remain above sea level. Four soldiers remain the last of their kind, protecting what’s left of their home. However, when months pass and only a strange boat arrives, the crew soon finds themselves in a dangerous situation.
Kate Bosworth’s military drama,Last Sentinel,shares a similar setting toThe Gorge. Set on a slightly futuristic Earth, climate change has caused the sea levels to rise, leaving just two large continents. A skeleton crew of soldiers are divided among the last outposts, waiting to defend humanity from an unseen enemy, though their mission officially should have ended three months previously. Just as the tension inThe Gorgebegins to increase over time, the crew inLast Sentinelis disrupted when a sinister boat comes into view.
Viewers who preferred the claustrophobia and tension at the beginning ofThe Gorgeshould watchLast Sentinelnextfor a similar feeling, but with a much more bleak outlook. The sci-fi elements are few inLast Sentinel, and the bigger threat to humanity is humanity rather than hidden monsters. This difference makes it seem like an alternate future forThe Gorge, and a more realistic one.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a romantic comedy action film that follows a married couple who discover that they’re both assassins after years of maintaining a false relationship for cover when John and Jane discover on a hit job that they both have the same target, the failed mission results in the discovery that they’re both assigned to different agencies. Now tasked with eliminating one another, the two engage in a darkly comedic battle where they soon begin to fall in love - for real, this time.
There are disappointingly few movies that feature an equally matched couple with dangerous skills, but bothThe GorgeandMr. & Mrs. Smithkeep them at the center of the story. The controversy surroundingMr. & Mrs. Smithoften overshadows its plot as it is the movie that brought Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together. However, the film itself is fun, with some excellent stunt scenes.Mr. & Mrs. Smithis about two married undercover assassinswho don’t know about each other’s secret identities.
The central relationship inMr. & Mrs. Smithis often hilarious, with the couple going to extreme lengths to hide their real lives from each other. The tension in the movie comes when the two assassins are hired to kill each other, and while this also happens inThe Gorge,the ending ofMr. & Mrs. Smithis very different. For viewers wanting a movie with more romance, it’s a good one to watch next.
From Dusk Till Dawn
From Dusk Till Dawn is a horror movie directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. It follows criminal brothers Seth and Richie Gecko (George Clooney and Tarantino), who take a family hostage in a bar that turns out to be a haven for vampires. The film also stars Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Salma Hayek, and has since become a cult classic.
One of the best genre mashup movies of all time is surely FromDusk Till Dawn, which sawQuentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez collaboratingon a horror Western.From Dusk Till Dawnbegins deceptively, appearing to be a Western crime story about two brothers on the run from the law, until the brothers find themselves in a saloon bar and defending themselves from its resident vampires. The switch between genres is far from seamless, but this adds to the fun of the movie.
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Combining multiple genres can often produce exciting movies, and whileThe Gorge’s romance element meant that there was a predictably happy ending, the choice to put romantic comedy scenes in a monster movie worked well. BothFrom Dusk Till DawnandThe Gorgeare fun to watch and genuinely terrifying at times. For a similarly unusual blend of genres that don’t appear to fit together but end up working extremely well,From Dusk To Dawnis the best movie to watch afterThe Gorge.
The Gorge
The Gorge follows two elite snipers assigned to guard opposite sides of a deep, impenetrable gorge. As they undertake their mysterious mission, they remain unaware of what lies beneath them, testing their skills and resolve in this suspense-filled narrative.
