What games inspired the director of The Gorge starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy

On February 14, Apple TV+ premiered "The Gorge," the latest film from "Sinister" and "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson, bringing together an impressive array of industry talent.

The production features distinguished collaborators including cinematographer Dan Laustsen (known for "John Wick" and "The Shape of Water"), screenwriter Zack Dean ("Fast X"), and acclaimed composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Oscar-winning musicians from Nine Inch Nails.

The narrative follows two skilled snipers stationed at observation towers for year-long assignments: an American ex-Marine named Levi (Miles Teller of "Whiplash" and "War Dogs") and a Lithuanian mercenary, Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy from "The Queen's Gambit" and the upcoming "Furiosa"). Their mission involves monitoring a mysterious, fog-shrouded chasm that potentially harbors supernatural threats.

Derrickson, with his 25-year horror filmmaking experience and gaming enthusiasm, creates a unique blend of genres. The film combines elements of:

The result is an innovative narrative that draws inspiration from various gaming influences while maintaining its cinematic identity. This hybrid approach creates a distinctive viewing experience that bridges multiple entertainment mediums.

Until Dawn

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In a revealing Games Radar interview, director Scott Derrickson acknowledged the significant influence of the teen horror game "Until Dawn" on his latest cinematic venture. This admission illuminates an fascinating intersection between interactive entertainment and traditional filmmaking, showcasing how modern directors increasingly draw inspiration from video game narratives.

The influence of Supermassive Games' masterwork becomes apparent through Derrikson's approach to genre subversion. Just as "Until Dawn" deliberately collected and deconstructed horror tropes to create something unexpectedly fresh, "The Gorge" begins with familiar horror elements before dramatically shifting its narrative direction. This transformation occurs roughly a quarter into the film, when what appears to be a supernatural horror story evolves into an unconventional romantic drama set against a science fiction backdrop.

The film's structure particularly echoes the game's innovative storytelling methods. Both works initially present themselves as straightforward genre pieces before revealing deeper, more complex narratives. A striking parallel emerges in a pivotal scene where Miles Teller's character discovers archived footage showing a scientist's transformation into a monster, directly mirroring a similar revelation sequence in Blackwood Asylum from "Until Dawn." This moment exemplifies how the film adopts gaming's approach to progressive narrative revelation.

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The setting itself draws from similar thematic wells - isolated environments, mysterious facilities, and the constant threat of transformation. Both works explore the consequences of scientific experimentation gone wrong, though "The Gorge" introduces its own unique element with the mutation-causing biochemical weapon. The film's underground facility, populated by transformed creatures, creates an atmosphere reminiscent of the game's tense exploration sequences.

Derrikson's implementation of these gaming influences demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of cross-media storytelling. Rather than merely copying elements from "Until Dawn," he adapts them to serve a cinematic narrative while maintaining their psychological impact. The result is a film that feels both familiar to gamers and accessible to traditional movie audiences.

This creative cross-pollination between gaming and cinema appears particularly timely, given the approaching theatrical adaptation of "Until Dawn" itself, scheduled for release on April 25, 2025. The relationship between these mediums continues to evolve, suggesting a future where the boundaries between interactive and traditional storytelling become increasingly fluid.

The Last of Us

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The design philosophy behind "The Gorge's" mutated antagonists, known as the "Hollow Men" (named after T.S. Eliot's poem), reveals significant parallels with the iconic Clickers from "The Last of Us," as confirmed by Derrickson in his Games Radar interview.

The film's narrative establishes that following Oppenheimer's atomic bomb development, nations formed a covert coalition to develop advanced biochemical weapons along international borders. This initiative resulted in catastrophic consequences when an earthquake triggered an unexpected detonation, creating an unprecedented biological disaster. The contamination caused DNA fusion among affected organisms, resulting in a semi-marshy organic biome where living tissue merged with surrounding structures, creating a hazardous ecosystem.

Both creature types demonstrate similar biological horror elements:

The infected in both properties exhibit comparable traits:

Silent Hill

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Director Scott Derrickson's latest work demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of both gaming and cinematic horror traditions, weaving multiple influences into a cohesive narrative experience. In his Games Radar interview, Derrickson explicitly acknowledged how different gaming genres influenced various sections of the film, with early sequences drawing inspiration from tactical shooters like Overwatch before transitioning into survival horror territory reminiscent of The Last of Us.

The film's most striking gaming influence comes from Silent Hill's iconic atmosphere. The perpetual fog that shrouds the landscape serves as more than mere environmental decoration - it becomes a character in itself, much like in Konami's legendary horror series. This atmospheric choice manifests in abandoned wooden structures, particularly the ominous church that becomes a focal point for one of the film's most intense confrontations. The municipal layout, with its decaying architecture and remnants of former community life, creates an unmistakable parallel to Silent Hill's psychological landscape.

Creature design in "The Gorge" reveals a fascinating synthesis of gaming influences. The spider-headed entities encountered in the church sequence share distinctive characteristics with Silent Hill's early Crawlers, while maintaining their unique identity through organic woody growths rather than the rust and decay typical of Silent Hill's monsters. This approach to environmental decay through natural rather than industrial deterioration offers a fresh perspective on horror game aesthetics.

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The film's narrative draws additional inspiration from more recent gaming experiences, particularly in its treatment of mass tragedy. The discovery of mass suicide victims in the church, complete with cyanide capsules, bears striking similarities to Outlast 2's religious horror elements, which themselves were inspired by the real-world Jonestown tragedy. This layering of references demonstrates how the film bridges gaming, cinema, and historical influences.

Beyond gaming influences, "The Gorge" shows clear inspiration from contemporary science fiction cinema, particularly Alex Garland's "Annihilation." The representation of human-nature hybrid environments and biological transformation echoes Garland's work while maintaining its own distinct visual identity. This combination of gaming and cinematic influences creates a unique aesthetic that feels both familiar and innovative.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

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A particularly striking sequence in "The Gorge" reveals significant parallels with Naughty Dog's Uncharted franchise, specifically Uncharted 4, demonstrating how modern cinema continues to draw inspiration from gaming's most cinematic moments.

The film's pivotal escape scene features distinctive elements:

These elements directly mirror Uncharted 4's innovative vehicular gameplay mechanics, where similar equipment and scenarios were integral to the game's Madagascar sequences.

The parallel between film and game extends to specific details:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

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The film exhibits remarkable similarities with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gaming franchise, though these parallels might be coincidental rather than intentional. Nevertheless, the shared elements create an intriguing pattern worth examining.

Core Thematic Overlaps:

The setting's proximity to Eastern Europe and Cold War references further strengthen these parallels. While these elements are common in post-apocalyptic narratives, the specific combination suggests possible influence from:

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