The Gorge Ending Explained

After finishing, it's worthwhile to dissect the specifics of The Gorge's ending because there are multiple levels to comprehend. Miles Teller (Whiplash), Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa, The Queen's Gambit), and Sigourney Weaver (Alien) are the main cast members of The Gorge, the most recent sci-fi thriller film on Apple TV+, which was directed by Scott Derickson (Doctor Strange). Teller and Taylor-Joy portray skilled marksmen Levi and Drasa, assigned to protect opposing sides of an enigmatic ravine. They start talking throughout the movie, which develops into a romance that threatens both their mission and their employers.

Following their escape from the Gorge's depths, Levi and Drasa determine that it would be morally correct to dismantle the operation before making their getaway in order to prevent future agents from falling for the same falsehoods. This makes Sigourney Weaver's character, Bartholomew, the leader of a group named Dark Lake, personally intervene and travel to the Gorge in order to eliminate them. After outwitting her, the two destroy the satellites and blow up the Gorge. While Levi and Drasa flee, Bartholomew is killed in a helicopter explosion.

An explanation of Levi and Drasa's plan to destroy the gorge

Levi and Drasa find a computer from the 2000s that contains documents about Dark Lake and the mission in the Gorge while they are deep within the Gorge. Included in this is a file named "Stray Dog," which is a nuclear-based self-destruction plan linked to the site. Humans will have to destroy the Gorge as a last resort if they ever get to a point where they can no longer control its contents. However, Dark Lake, a genetics company that hopes to make money off the site's distinctive DNA samples, does not want to use this.

Before departing and going into hiding, Levi and Drasa plan to demolish the Gorge because they think Dark Lake is malevolent and hiding the "mother of all secrets." They would have to detonate the nuke from a distance if they wanted to survive, as the computer indicates that the blast radius would be 4.2 kilometers. They must run the last few hundred kilometers to reach safety after receiving the longest kill shot either of them has ever taken.

Why Levi Didn't Arrive at Drasa's Rendezvous Point

Reuniting, Levi and Drasa intend to spend the remainder of their lives in hiding in France. However, they must ensure they are not contaminated before they can leave the Gorge, wherever it may be. As planned, the two of them quarantine themselves for five days to ensure they have not contracted the substance in the Gorge. After arriving at the meeting spot and waiting for a while, Drasa departs, thinking Levi has passed away.

In the film's conclusion, Levi finds Drasa at her new job when he arrives at the cafe, and the two go on to lead a happy life together. Levi's lengthy arrival was primarily done to create dramatic tension and make Drasa and the audience consider the possibility that he might not make it. The reason for this is that he probably had to spend more time surviving and recovering before he could get to her because he injured his leg while fleeing the drones. However, he is a resourceful man and finds her anyhow.

An explanation of the Gorge's contamination event and hollow men

The majority of the information required to understand the Gorge and the Hollow Men is provided by a film reel in the Gorge's research station. East and West partners collaborated on a classified project toward the end of World War II to create nuclear weapons that would compete with the Manhattan Project. These chemical missiles were supposed to be a global powerhouse, but their base of operations was damaged by an earthquake.

The woman in the movie reel demonstrated how the chemicals used to make the weapons combined with human DNA. The scientists' goal shifted from developing the weapons to containing the toxin. The inhabitants of that area became Hollow Men, and the chemicals kept changing horses, spiders, and other animals, eventually creating hideous hybrids.

What Dark Lake and Bartholomew Were Actually Doing To The Gorge

The main spokesperson for Dark Lake, a malevolent organization that has been mining the Gorge for the distinctive DNA of its tainted animals, is Bartholomew. They transport the required materials into and out of the Gorge using drones because no one can enter the area without getting contaminated. The Gorge is then shielded from the outside by snipers, which stop anything from escaping and going into the outside world. The main goal of Dark Lake is to create super soldiers using the hybrid DNA.

Did the Helicopter Crash Kill Bartholomew?

Although The Gorge appears to have the makings of a sequel, it should be presumed that Bartholomew passed away until Apple makes an official announcement. Now that the Gorge has been destroyed, their goal may have changed, but there may always be others to replace her at Dark Lake. Sigourney Weaver's antagonistic portrayal of Bartholomew, the film's primary antagonist, served to challenge preconceptions. The fact that she was killed by the explosion of her own project is rather poetic in order to give her character a satisfying ending.

The True Significance Of Levi's Poem To Drasa

Levi's love of poetry is among the first things that Drasa and Levi connect over. Despite writing every day and taking a class, he says he isn't very good at writing poems, but she demands that he show her his work. He saves the entire poem for when he passes away, but he only shares the title, "She Collapsed the Night," which she finds moving. She reads it, thinking he's dead. The following is the passage from Levi's poem that is displayed in the movie:

She Collapsed the Night

I did not know, I knew how to hope.

I did not know, I'd long been hoping.

To behold you,

Coping only to be held by you.

You - unshatterable alabaster.

You - Starlight carved by chainsaw

In this rather straightforward love poem, Levi's time prior to meeting Drasa is compared to "the night." He had no idea how to hope or even that he wanted to hope until he met her. But once he met her, he understood that she was everything he had ever desired. She "collapsed," or ended, his "night," or his hopelessness, enabling him to rediscover himself and his will to live.

An explanation of the true significance of the Gorge's conclusion

The Gorge features imaginative action and world-building, along with all the excitement of a science fiction and horror film. Nevertheless, the characters—rather than the conflict—are the central focus of the narrative. Both adults, Levi and Drasa, have lost their sense of purpose in life, and their occupation has caused them to become unstable and socially isolated. Like Levi says, they find something to live for throughout the job, and they enter it with nothing to lose. They are so different from one another not only because they are attracted to each other but also because they understand each other.

Both of the adults in Scott Derickson's film have artistic souls, but they have chosen to pursue their careers. Drasa is a music lover, and Levi is a poetry lover. These characters are more complex than they have presented themselves to be, and by coming together, they have regained the ability to access that aspect of themselves. Although The Gorge is primarily a lighthearted action/romance film, these characters have some nuance.