The Gorge, starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy and directed by Scott Derrickson, has become one of Apple TV+’s biggest films. Blending romance, science fiction, and horror, the film delivers an action-packed story that keeps viewers engaged.

The film’s storyline and ending have left many viewers with lingering questions. Below, we break down the key plot points, explore the mystery behind The Gorge, and explain its explosive conclusion.

Spoilers ahead, of course.

The plot of ‘The Gorge‘

The film follows two elite snipers: Levi (Teller), a former United States Marine, and Drasa (Taylor-Joy), who has worked for the Kremlin. Both are stationed on opposite sides of a mysterious gorge, supposedly protecting their respective countries’ interests. Levi is sent there by a woman named Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver), while Drasa has her own orders.

Neither of them knows what lies within the gorge. However, the man stationed there before Levi, J.D. (Sopé Dìrísù), describes the gorge as housing monstrous creatures known as “The Hollow Men.” J.D. tells Levi that his tenure will last a year and shares a chilling account of how many soldiers were sent into the gorge in the 1940s—none of whom ever returned. Once Levi arrives, J.D. is extracted from the mission but is shot and executed by someone inside the departing plane.

Although Levi and Drasa are not supposed to interact, they defy the rules and begin communicating, eventually forming a deep bond. One day, as they speak, creatures begin to escape, but they manage to keep them at bay. Over time, Levi sneaks over to Drasa’s tower via zipline, where they share a meal, dance, and grow even closer. When Levi ziplines back, the creatures begin coming out again, mines detonate, and Levi falls in the gorge. Drasa goes down to save them.

What exactly is ‘The Gorge’ in the movie?

Inside the gorge, Levi and Drasa encounter grotesque humanoid creatures—humans fused with plants and animals over decades. As they explore further, they discover an abandoned research facility and begin piecing together the truth.

The research lab was initially run by both Western and Eastern governments, but is now controlled by a private defense company called Dark Lake. Dark Lake has been secretly conducting experiments in the gorge, aiming to create super soldiers. It is revealed that a past earthquake unleashed dangerous chemicals, trapping those exposed and transforming them into the Hollow Men. Keeping them down there, Dark Lake has continued experimenting, using the gorge as a testing ground.

The gorge is essentially a failed scientific experiment gone horribly wrong. The Hollow Men are not just monsters—they are the remnants of those who were trapped and mutated by the chemicals.

Breaking down the ending of ‘The Gorge’

As Levi and Drasa continue their search for answers, they uncover a critical detail: Dark Lake has a failsafe called “Stray Dog,” a detonation mechanism designed to destroy the gorge entirely.

Meanwhile, Bartholomew discovers that Levi and Drasa know too much. She reveals that she has been working for Dark Lake all along and that their mission was never about protecting their respective countries—it was always about securing Dark Lake’s experiments. She also exposes the fact that Levi and Drasa have been secretly communicating.

Realizing they have no other choice, Levi and Drasa decide to activate the Stray Dog failsafe to stop Dark Lake from continuing its experiments. As Bartholomew and her operatives close in on them, they manage to evade capture and destroy the incoming drones. Once the failsafe is activated, the resulting explosion wipes out the gorge and kills Bartholomew and her team.

Drasa, believing that Levi perished in the blast, follows through with their escape plan and relocates to France. A month later, she is seen working at a small restaurant, seemingly moving on. Just when it appears that Levi is truly gone, he suddenly arrives at the restaurant and orders rabbit pie—a callback to their shared meal in her tower—revealing that he survived.

Derrickson originally had a different ending

Director Scott Derrickson initially envisioned a different ending in which the two reunited in a graveyard. However, Levi would have still survived, and they would have had a future together.

“We talked a lot about the ending, and I shot an ending initially that wasn’t really different, but it ended in the same graveyard where she was with her [father],” he told Den of Geek. “That was a little more bittersweet in its tone, ending with the gravestones all around them. Even though it was beautiful, the reality of surrounding death was also there. And then we reshot it [and replaced it with] the one that’s in the movie, which I quite like.”

He continued, “Look at the ending of some of my films, I don’t have any problem with an extraordinarily bleak ending. But yeah, in this case, I felt like it was important for me as a storyteller to see them get their reward for what they had put themselves through willingly, and for what they had accomplished, and what Levi had done in dealing with himself and facing himself. I thought if you take all that away from one of them in death, I felt like the story would somehow deplete the value of what they had been through.”

The Gorge is now streaming on Apple TV+.