A sniper assigned to guard a pit full of monsters sounds like the start of a wild genre ride. Instead, this film leans hard into romance, placing two marksmen on opposite sides of a deadly gorge and pushing them toward each other long before the danger beneath them becomes clear. The idea has promise. The execution keeps drifting toward a love story that never earns the space it takes.
Levi, played by Miles Teller, arrives for a year-long shift in a watchtower that feels cut off from the world. His predecessor gives him a simple warning: protect the world from whatever crawls out of the abyss below. The job looks lonely but straightforward. Then Levi spots Drasa across the span. Anya Taylor-Joy plays her with a cool precision that should bring tension to their divided posts. Instead, the film drops the rivalry and jumps straight into courtship.
The early stretch has some charm. Levi and Drasa start trading handwritten messages across the void. They find excuses to break rules. He even rides a zip-line to her tower for a makeshift date night built on rabbit pie and whispered dreams. These scenes play like an indie romance, not a survival story. As they grow closer, their attention drifts. They blast music across the gorge. They relax when they should be watching. That lapse opens the door for an attack that sends them tumbling into the depths.
Once underground, the film shifts again. They try to navigate a world filled with twig-like creatures and an environment that looks lifted from a mid-budget game. A thin conspiracy involving Sigourney Weaver’s handler figure unfolds exactly as expected. The beats land with little weight, and the threats never hit as hard as they should. The big twist—that the film is an original concept—barely registers when so much of the plot feels familiar.
The emotional core never forms. The script asks you to root for a pair defined by trauma, habit, and vague yearning, yet gives you little reason to believe in them. Their chemistry stays flat. Teller plays Levi as a man hoping for redemption. Taylor-Joy moves through scenes with a distance that fits the character’s past but does not help the romance grow. The film hints at a darker edge, suggesting these two could bond over the ruthlessness of their work, but then softens every angle until nothing sharp remains.
Some craftsmanship stands out. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross adds atmosphere. Dan Laustsen’s cinematography brings scale and polish. The production has the glossy finish common to many Apple releases. Yet the film feels engineered rather than lived-in, more a technical showcase than a story built to stay with you.
The final impression is clear. The concept has potential. The performances have pedigree. The romance never sparks, the tension never tightens, and the film sinks under the weight of choices aimed at giving a love story center stage without giving it a pulse. It fades quickly, leaving little to hold on to once the credits roll.
