Dallas Native John Burr Brings Terror to Our Backyard in The Gates

It is not very often that Dallas residents get to sit in a dark theater and watch a film that actually unfolds in their hometown. Usually, if our city even warrants a passing mention on the big screen, the hometown crowd will holler with excitement, thrilled to see our little bubble acknowledged on a global scale. But in the new thriller The Gates, Dallas is not just a passing reference. It is the racing heart of the story.

You will see the iconic skyline. You will spot the sweeping arches of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. You will even feel the familiar, creeping dread of classic Dallas traffic. But the real dread in The Gates comes from something far more sinister, masterfully orchestrated by Dallas-raised director John Burr.

Burr’s sophomore feature is a gripping, pulse-pounding thriller that is as thoughtful as it is intense. The film follows three college students — Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith) and Tyon (Keith Powers) — on a road trip to Denton to meet college girls, but the journey takes a disastrous turn. Seeking an ill-advised shortcut, the young men find themselves trapped behind the imposing walls of a remote, affluent gated community after witnessing a brutal murder. Over the course of one terrifying night, they are hunted and fractured by their own differing belief systems, desperate to survive.

For Burr, planting the roots of this nightmare in North Texas was a deeply personal choice.

“I spent all of my formative years in Dallas,” Burr tells the Observer. “In order to tell stories for a living, you have to live life. And I definitely lived life in Dallas.”

His filmmaking journey began right here in the suburbs, running around town with a video camera, sneaking into the creepiest locations he and his friends could find to shoot homemade scary movies. Those little movies eventually grew into a career. With The Gates, Burr returns to the very environment that shaped his creative lens, intent on showing the world a side of Texas rarely seen in mainstream cinema.

“I took with me a desire to explore and sort of share what it really meant to live in this area and bring it onto a stage so that the rest of the world wouldn’t have these preconceived notions of what it meant to be from Dallas or from rural or suburban Texas,” Burr explains.

He succeeds quite well. The film drops familiar suburban names like Richardson, Highland Park and Prosper, earning audible reactions from local crowds who understand the specific cultural connotations of those enclaves.

But The Gates is more than just a geographic Easter egg hunt. It is a sharp, elevated genre piece that tackles themes of race, privilege and perceived safety. Burr drew inspiration from the 1993 thriller Judgment Night, flipping the script on what constitutes a “dangerous neighborhood.” He poses a chilling question: What if the scariest place for a group of young Black men is actually a gilded, opulent gated community that prides itself on being a paragon of safety?

The tension in that premise is anchored by stellar performances. Gooding (of Scream fame) carries the film with an incredible weight, playing Derek as a deeply calculated individual. It is genuinely thrilling to watch the gears turn in his head as he attempts to outsmart his hunters. The three friends feel entirely human, burdened by their own baggage and constantly challenging one another, refusing to fall into standard horror movie tropes.

Standing in their way is the late, great James Van Der Beek in his final film role. As Pastor Jacob, the cunning patriarch who holds the entire community under his thumb, Van Der Beek delivers a terrifyingly menacing performance. He perfectly embodies the (sadly all-too-familiar) kind of manipulative leader who exploits the masses for his own gain. The actor shifts from charming to lethal in a fraction of a second, dropping his friendly facade without warning and making his character wildly unpredictable.

Now, Burr reflects on the bittersweet reality of releasing the film following the actor’s passing earlier this year.

“Mixed emotions. Heartbroken to lose him. He was a wonderful person, wonderful to work with,” Burr says. “At the same time, I am very proud to be able to bring his final performance to screen.”

The Gates easily could have been a standard, throwaway thriller. Instead, it is a fun, intense and socially resonant ride that treats its characters — and its setting — with deep respect. It challenges our perceptions while keeping us firmly on the edge of our seats.

If you want to support a homegrown filmmaker and witness a fantastic Dallas-centric thriller, you will have to make a slight commute.The Gates is currently playing just outside the city limits at Frisco’s AMC Stonebriar, AMC DINE-IN Mesquite and AMC Grapevine Mills. Drive the few extra miles, because it’s absolutely worth the trip. Just be careful of any shortcuts.