Thrillers often hinge on one simple question: Who can you trust?
But in Lionsgate’s new film “The Gates,” that question becomes far more complicated, especially when the characters at the center of the story are three young Black men who suddenly find themselves trapped in a place that was never meant for them.
Directed and written by John Burr, the tense thriller follows college friends Derek, Kevin, and Tyon (Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, and Keith Powers) whose road trip takes a disastrous turn when they drive through a secluded gated community and witness a murder. What begins as a shortcut quickly spirals into a fight for survival as the trio becomes trapped inside the walls and hunted by the very community meant to represent safety.
And as the night unfolds, the men realize the biggest danger isn’t always the obvious one.
“I think trust comes from engaging with personhood,” Gooding told theGrio during a recent conversation alongside his co-stars. “Many times in the film, the characters rely on preconceived ideas about who people are based on circumstance or experience.”
That tension—between instinct and reality—sits at the heart of the film.
Throughout the story, the characters repeatedly encounter people who appear helpful or sympathetic, only to discover that survival requires constant vigilance.
“It touches on different aspects of Blackness and how we relate to one another,” Gooding said. “Ideally, we would all support one another, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Smith summed up the film’s central theme more bluntly.
“All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk, man,” he said.
While the film’s characters spend much of the story navigating betrayal and suspicion, the actors themselves developed a natural camaraderie during production.
Much of that bonding happened in a place familiar to anyone who’s spent time in the South: Waffle House.
“We had a full night shoot for 18 days,” Powers recalled. “A lot of our nights ended at Waffle House. A lot of conversations at Waffle House.”
The trio also spent time exploring Tulsa together during the shoot, walking through festivals and grabbing dinner with director John Burr.
Those moments helped translate into the film’s convincing on-screen chemistry.
“We naturally bonded,” Gooding said. “That connection just carried over into the film.”
For Burr, the film’s suspense is only part of the story.
The director said he intentionally built ‘The Gates’ around questions of perception, power, and belonging.
“Exploring stereotypes was one of the primary goals of making this film,” Burr told theGrio. “We live in a polarized culture, but values are a spectrum. I wanted to create a thrill ride where different communities collide and those beliefs are exposed in a moment of crisis.”
That collision plays out inside the film’s central setting—a seemingly idyllic gated neighborhood that quickly reveals its darker undercurrents.
“One of the core themes was the idea of a ‘safe neighborhood,’” Burr explained. “Safe for who?”
The film also nods to real-world conversations about race and perception in America, including how young Black men can be viewed differently depending on the environment they’re in.
Burr said those dynamics were central to shaping the story’s tension.
“The perception of someone walking through a neighborhood at night can be completely different depending on who they are,” he said.
Adding another layer of gravity to the film is the presence of actor James Van Der Beek, who plays the story’s charismatic and dangerous antagonist.
Known to many fans for his iconic roles in “Dawson’s Creek,” “Varsity Blues,” Van Der Beek passed away following a battle with colorectal cancer on Feb. 11, 2026. ‘The Gates’ marks his final film performance.
In the movie, Van Der Beek portrays Jacob, a local pastor whose authority within the gated community becomes increasingly unsettling as the story unfolds.
For the younger cast, working with him left a lasting impression.
“James was just such a good human being first,” Smith said. “That’s what he prioritized—his family, his life outside the industry.”
Smith recalled one moment during production when the veteran actor invited the cast into his trailer and shared advice about navigating Hollywood.
“He talked about how at one point he let the industry be his validation,” Smith said. “But now he leads with his family and the things that actually matter.”
Gooding remembers another moment on set that felt like an acting masterclass.
While preparing for a major scene together, Van Der Beek delivered an extended monologue rehearsal that left the entire crew captivated.
“The gaffers stopped working just to watch him,” Gooding said. “He absolutely took me to class.”
Those experiences, the actors say, made his presence on the film feel even more meaningful.
“It felt like he was giving us gems,” Smith said. “Like the film was his gift to us in a sense.”
At its core, “The Gates” works as a classic survival thriller—fast-paced, suspenseful, and packed with unexpected twists.
But beneath the chase sequences and psychological mind games is a deeper reflection on community, identity, and the complicated ways people judge one another.
And as audiences follow Derek, Kevin, and Tyon through one increasingly dangerous situation after another, the film keeps circling back to its central question:
When everything is on the line, who can you really trust?
