The Gorge, on Apple TV+

It is the grimmest hardship duty station in world, even worse than Guantanamo or Siberia. Fortunately, only one single soldier gets stationed there during the year-long rotation, but obviously that “volunteer” must be carefully selected. The special recruit must stand guard against the monsters inhabiting a large chasm in Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

A bad psych eval forced former Marine sniper Levi Kane to step back from special operator assignments, but the shadowy Bartholomew approaches him for an outside the box gig. Drugged unconscious on the flight over, Kane has no idea where his outpost is located. It is just him relieving the apparently British sounding J.D. in the brutalist concrete post-war fortification, unless you count Drasa, the sentry stationed across from him on the eastern side of the gorge.

Technically, they are not supposed to have contact, but they inevitably work together when the monstrous mutant hordes come streaming out of the gorge. Soon, they start communicating and even flirting via sketchpad and wipe boards. Even if they were not the only man and woman for miles around, they would probably still be interested in each other, so Kane sets about surmounting the insurmountable gulf between them. Then, the monsters attack.

Basically, the so-called “Hollow Men” creatures look a lot like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, but some of the special ones have Xenomorph-like attributes. They are super-bad news, but Kane and Drasa soon suspect they did not simply spring out of the ground. Frankly, the deep state conspiracy elements really do not make much sense. Of course, it is even more far-fetched to think the Russian government would dispatch Drasa to eliminate a war-profiteering oligarch who manufactures landmines, as screenwriter Zach Dean ludicrously suggests early in the film. Such a death-merchant would be part of Putin’s bedrock support system in real life.

Nevertheless, the young-snipers-in-love chemistry between co-leads Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller is surprisingly—maybe even shockingly—appealing. There are real sparks and also plenty of tracer bullets. At its best, the vibe of The Gorge is reminiscent of the original Predator and Cameron’s Aliens, with a neo-Cold War romance mixed in. It doesn’t hurt to have Sigourney Weaver chewing the scenery and emulating every dodgy company exec she faced in the Alien franchise, as Bartholomew.

Thoroughbreds: Featuring the Late Anton Yelchin

Most of us would consider a drug dealer to be bad news all around, especially one who pushes product in school yards. However, to Lily and her bestie Amanda, shaggy-haired Tim is still merely one of the help. He just happens to carry a gun, making him more useful to them. They expect to get what they want, because they are young, entitled, and sociopathic, so they don’t see why the murder of Lily’s step-father should be any different in Cory Finley’s Thoroughbreds (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Lily and Amanda were once close, grew apart, and have been forced back together recently. Socially, Amanda has become persona non-grata ever she one-upped Equus with her prized horse. Although Amanda claims she no longer feels emotions (basically bragging she is a full-stop sociopath), her mother is sufficiently concerned, she has actually hired her old BFF Lily to tutor her, as a means of providing some socialization. Unfortunately, bringing these two together could potentially be very dangerous, like the Key-Master and the Gate-Keeper.

Indeed, before long, Amanda has adopted Lily’s despised step-father Mark as her nemesis as well. Instead of passive aggressive tantrums, Amanda suggests more proactive steps—specifically murder. They will not do it themselves, of course. They will frame-up poor Tim and then extort him into murdering Tim for them. At least, that is the plan, but plans usually go awry in the film noir classics they constantly watch together.

It is a terrible shame this is one of the final screen appearances from the late Anton Yelchin, but Tim the reluctant killer was a perfect role for him. He has to be the most nebbish drug dealer ever seen on film, but there is still something dangerously unpredictable about him. There is nothing awkward about Thoroughbreds as a capstone to Yelchin’s career, but it leaves us wondering what could have been.

The film also advances Anya Taylor-Joy’s steady build to superstardom. Most encouragingly, genre roles seem to be her thing. She conveyed a profound sense of inner torment in The Witch and now she gives us frost-burn as Lily, a spectacularly icy femme fatale, if ever there was one. For most of the film, Olivia Cooke more or less hits the same note as the conscience-less Amanda, but it is quite a chilling note. Yet, she nicely sets us up for some surprises down the stretch. Paul Sparks also makes a perfect noir antagonist for them as the contemptuous step-father. We basically agree with his disdainful opinion of Lily, but viewers still will root to see him get his own comeuppance for his arrogance.

Thoroughbreds is relatively narrow in scope, but it is lethally effective. Finley, a playwright turned filmmaker, is definitely working in the tradition of classic stage thrillers: limited settings, a small cast of characters, and some deeply rooted resentments. It is the little film with a cold, cold heart. Recommended for fans of film noir and the late Yelchin, Thoroughbreds opens tomorrow (3/9) in New York at multiple theaters, including the Regal E-Walk.