The Gift-2015
Director Joel Edgerton
Starring Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton
Scott’s Review #264
Reviewed August 9, 2015
Grade: A-
The Gift (2015) is a throwback to the type of psychological thriller made famous by Fatal Attraction in 1987 and similar films throughout their heyday into the 1990s.
An unstable psycho threatens a happy couple.
Interestingly, The Gift is similar in genre to a film also released in 2015, The Boy Next Door. The Gift is worlds superior to that film and contains surprises, frights, twists, and turns that I pleasantly did not see coming.
The film is not predictable which is refreshing in this particular genre.
Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall star as Simon and Robyn, a successful young couple who have relocated from Chicago to sunny California, near Simon’s childhood hometown, to begin a new life with the intent of starting a family.
They soon run into a man named Gordo, played by actor/director Joel Edgerton, a high school chum of Simon’s from twenty years ago whom Simon barely remembers. Simon and Gordo plan to re-connect over dinner, but the audience can sense that something is not right with Gordo.
As Simon, Gordo, and Robyn get to know each other again, Gordo begins leaving pleasant little gifts on Simon and Robyn’s doorstep as well as showing up at their house unannounced, which is particularly unnerving to Robyn as she is home alone all day long. Simon is consumed with his new career and possible promotion.
Interestingly, their home is located in a secluded area.
The film soon reveals that Gordo was nicknamed “Gordo the Weirdo” in high school and that an incident involving Gordo occurred, though nobody seems to remember the exact circumstances.
Perhaps they choose not to remember?
The vagueness of this situation is appealing because the audience is sure that these circumstances will be revealed later in the story and play a large part in the climax, which it does.
We also learn that another incident took place with Robyn in Chicago and that she suffered a miscarriage. She does not drink and avoids pills. Could she be unstable, imagining things, or overly cautious?
It is revealed that she does not handle stress well.
A wonderful aspect of The Gift is its surprise factor. As the plot twists and turns, I switched alliances and wondered who the villain was. Gordo? Simon? Robyn?
Edgerton (along with a great acting performance) compellingly directed the film and was undoubtedly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock.
The camera angles and score are excellent in establishing the correct level of tension at just the right moment. In more than a few scenes the audience knows something will jump out at the screen, so there is anticipation, but when and how it will happen is a surprise.
Many scenes are when Robyn is alone, during the day thank goodness, and she hears a noise or notices the water running. These scenes are traditional fare in horror or the thriller genre but are well done in The Gift.
Simon is an interesting character. Sophisticated, educated, and with a high-level executive job, he has a strange fear of monkeys.
The past is a common theme of the film- past events encase the three lead characters leading to conflict and ultimately these events come back to haunt them. Most of Simon’s friends are unlikable and appear interested in style over substance. They seem drawn to Simon more for his success than because they care about him.
This contradicts his wife’s character. Robyn is down-to-earth, and kind, and does not place as much stock in wealth and achievements as she does with personality and being a kind individual. She and Simon bicker and disagree about Gordo and their conflict increases.
It is not often in films anymore that one is truly frightened and “jumps out of your seat”, but two intense scenes, one involving a dog, and the other a shower, made me jump, and the hairs on my arm stand on end. Everyone in the audience gasped together.
Now that is fun!
The only negatives in The Gift are continuity issues and the suspension of disbelief in some scenes. Without giving anything away, how is Gordo able to do some things he can do?
The Gift (2015) is an old-fashioned thriller with excellent acting, compelling characters, and a wonderful debut for Edgerton in the director’s chair.
The film will leave the viewer pondering moral questions, and relating to each of the three main characters.
