The Gates

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2:07

The Gates

R

Mar 2026

1h 38m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

48%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

28%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

The Gates follows three college students -- Derek, Kevin, and Tyon (Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, and Keith Powers) on a road trip gone wrong, as the three young men take an ill-advised shortcut through a remote gated community, where they find themselves trapped behind the walls after witnessing a murder. Over the course of the night, they find themselves blamed, hunted, and fractured by their own differing belief systems, while the perpetrator--James Van Der Beek, at his most charming and terrifying--emerges as the cunning patriarch that holds the entire community under his influence.

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Peter Travers

The Travers Take

Mar 14, 2026

2.5/4

In his final film, James Van der Beek raises the bar on a standard-issue thriller through the sheer force of his talent and magnetism.

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William Bibbiani

TheWrap

Mar 13, 2026

'The Gates' is constantly on the verge of getting better, sometimes on the verge of getting good, but it never quite gets there. It’s a missed opportunity for thrills, social commentary, humor and/or horror.

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Bob Strauss

San Francisco Chronicle

Mar 13, 2026

2.5/4

“The Gates” benefits from simple, straightforward plotting and understated social commentary that’s as effective as shouted outrage.

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Marlon Wallace

The M Report (WBOC.com)

Apr 22, 2026

...Burr makes the decision to split up the characters. Mason Gooding's Derek spends a significant chunk of the film by himself, so we lose any interactions that he could have had [with his friends]...

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Nicholas Bell

Fish Jelly Films (YouTube)

Apr 17, 2026

2.5/5

Too many odd and sometimes jarring choices tend to mar an otherwise tense and unfortunately pertinent thriller concerning the realities of bigotry and religious charlatans.

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Carla Hay

Culture Mix

Mar 23, 2026

As a crime thriller, The Gates falls short of its potential because it takes a detour into some laughably bad plot developments. This unrealistic movie also mishandles its intent to have socially conscious messaging about racism and classism.

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Jelisije J

@jjosifovic 2 days ago

An entertaining but preachy movie about race.....that is the true telling and theme of this film.

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Jonothan L

@Jon20 5 days ago

Someone get Mason Gooding a new agent. Why is he in this low budget mess? Knew was taking a gamble watching a movie with a RT score under 30% but normally enjoy Gooding and there were quite a few 5 star reviews so figured give it a shot. It was awful, so bad that had to understand what the 5 star reviews were seeing and noticed most of them also left 5 star reviews for this director’s other two films...

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Scottie B

@RT55086142 Sep 7, 2026

I really enjoyed this movie. It was very suspenseful and was one of the best of the late Dawson's Creek actor James Van Der Beek. I would recommend it to friends. The other actors were great too, especially Mason Gooding, son of Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr.

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Spencer M

@RT00756745 Aug 31, 2026

Another film depicting all white people as villains and all black people as innocent victims. I thought we had finally put this nonsense to rest when Obama was elected, twice. Pathetic and boring.

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Kevin S

@RT69583652 Aug 27, 2026

Another race baiting movie… Go figure

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Her M

@Hermommy Aug 26, 2026

This was really good, I definitely enjoyed watching this. Good to see James one last time as well.

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John Burr

Director

Mason Gooding

Derek

Algee Smith

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Keith Powers

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Synopsis

The Gates follows three college students -- Derek, Kevin, and Tyon (Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, and Keith Powers) on a road trip gone wrong, as the three young men take an ill-advised shortcut through a remote gated community, where they find themselves trapped behind the walls after witnessing a murder. Over the course of the night, they find themselves blamed, hunted, and fractured by their own differing belief systems, while the perpetrator--James Van Der Beek, at his most charming and terrifying--emerges as the cunning patriarch that holds the entire community under his influence.

Director: John Burr
Producer: Nancy Leopardi, Ross Kohn, Gary Glushon
Screenwriter: John Burr
Distributor: Lionsgate
Production Co: Indy Entertainment, Core 4 Films
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 13, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 38m

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