In John Burr’s The Gates, a simple detour becomes a long night of fear, suspicion, and survival. The film follows three college friends—Derek, Kevin, and Tyon—played by Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, and Keith Powers. While traveling together, the group takes what appears to be a harmless shortcut through a secluded gated community. Their decision quickly spirals into chaos when they witness a murder and find themselves trapped inside the walls of the neighborhood.
The film marks Burr’s second feature after his debut supernatural thriller Muse. With The Gates, the writer-director blends genre tension with themes about identity, belief, and community. Burr said the concept grew from several personal ideas that eventually merged into a single story.
“There were a couple of different ideas bumping together,” Burr explained. “Ever since I was a kid running around Dallas making movies with a video camera, I wanted to tell a story about my experience growing up biracial and learning what it meant to be just as Black as I was white. At the same time, I always wanted to make horror and thriller films. I had to find a way to convey those ideas through a movie that audiences could enjoy as a thrilling ride.”
Burr places his characters in environments that feel familiar to him. The neighborhoods depicted in the film reflect places he encountered growing up in Texas. By putting the three young men inside the gated community, he wanted to explore how their backgrounds shape their responses to danger.
“I wanted to show the different shades of belief systems and lifestyles that exist within communities,” Burr said. “People grow up with very different experiences. I wanted to take three guys with different perspectives and drop them into a crisis. When something unexpected happens, you get to see how those beliefs affect their decisions.”
The film’s exciting dynamic plays out through the performances of Gooding, Smith, and Powers, who form the emotional core of the film. For Powers, the project stood out immediately when he read the script and saw who was attached to it. “When the script came to me, I saw it was a thriller and that grabbed my attention right away,” he said. “Then I saw these two guys were attached and I already knew Algee, and I had met Mason before—this is what you want going into a film. There’s already a connection.”
The actors strengthened their bond further before filming began. Smith said the group spent time together in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where production took place. Those shared experiences helped establish the trust needed to portray close friends on screen. “I think it’s very crucial to build chemistry before you start filming,” Smith said.
“Even if the characters don’t have chemistry in the story, it helps to know each other as people,” The New Edition Story star continued. “We went to restaurants, we went to a festival, and we even visited the museum about the Tulsa Race Massacre. Having those moments together grounded us before we got on set.”
Gooding, who had been attached to the project for nearly two years before cameras rolled, credited Burr’s collaborative approach for shaping the performances. He described the director as someone who invites actors into conversations about the story’s deeper meaning. “John has a natural way of finding the lifeline of conversations happening in the world and turning them into a compelling narrative,” he said. “He interweaves social commentary into a thriller in a way that keeps audiences excited while also giving them something to think about afterward.”
For the actors, the film’s tension escalates through the presence of James Van Der Beek, who plays the calculating leader of the community. His character exerts control over the neighborhood, creating a chilling atmosphere that surrounds the protagonists. For Smith, working alongside Van Der Beek left a lasting impression. The actor described him as a steady presence on set who guided others through example.
“He was such a leader without even having to say much,” Smith said. “He cared deeply about the work and about the story. We had a moment where we sat down and talked with him, and it felt like he was giving us some real gems about life and the craft.”
The role would become Van Der Beek’s final performance. Burr said the cast learned about his illness only after filming had wrapped. Despite the circumstances, the actor had the opportunity to watch the completed film with his family.“He was excited about the movie,” the director said. “Knowing he was able to see the final cut and enjoy it with his loved ones gives me peace.”
As the night unfolds in The Gates, the film leans heavily on the relationship between its three leads. Gooding, Smith, and Powers carry the story through a tense series of events where fear and uncertainty begin to test their friendship. For Burr, bringing those three actors together was one of the most rewarding aspects of the production.
“It was a really exciting opportunity to work with these guys that were well known within certain spheres for their acting as young people,” Burr said. “The cool thing about them is that they had all done very different kinds of films earlier in their careers, and the chance to put them together and really thrust them forward as leading men was special to me. Some of their earlier roles were when they were children or teenagers, so getting to show what they could do now and bring them onto the scene as potential stars of tomorrow, was a blessing.”