Review of The Gift (2015) by Nielsie161 — 18 Aug 2021

Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Hall) movie to rural LA for Simon's career. When they meet Gordo (Edgerton), an old friend of Simon, strange presents are left behind their house. This forces the couple to look back at their actions of the past and rethink whether they know the person they live with.

This movie surprised me on so many levels. First of all, it slowly becomes a completely and far more serious movie than the trailer suggests, which can be off putting for the Movie goers who just want to be thrilled, but I think it works for the better for this movie. Secondly, the movie title seems simple but is multi layered, as all characters are. It is up to the audience to give meaning to the the title and decide what 'The Gift' actually means.

But the best part of this movie is the characters, which are so well developed both in writing and acting that you feel for all characters. They are all flawed characters who are hiding something and they all express their pain in a different way. Especially Hall, who slowly becomes the protagonist of the story gives yet again a stellar performance, hopefully one day she will get recognized.

As for flaws, the tone of the movie shifts quiet a few times which reduces the tension a little bit in the middle part of the movie. Furthermore, although the characters are well developed, their back stories are often revealed using small references or short dialogue. This could have been more expanded for dramatic effect as the story line of the past is extremely interesting. But these are really small flaws, that you will completely forget towards the ending, which has one of the best movie twists ever, and will reward you as an audience for sitting through the entire time. And the movie will stick with you for a long long time.