Review of The Gift (2015) by Orlando O — 04 Nov 2015

The Gift is a simple psychological thriller and an impressive one at that especially for Joel Edgerton first directorial debut and his written script. The Gift could have gone in many directions or have a different surprise of a twist. The twist is somewhat predictable but in a good way without giving away spoilers. Joel Edgerton did well balancing the tension, the characters, and giving a little shock factor during the climax of the film. One thing he did as well was avoid the typical clichà (C)s that most thrillers follow through, we spend most of the movie watching a married couple trying to handle the situation of a stalker and the wife trying to find out the perspective on his motives between the stalker and her husband.

The plot follows Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) who is happily married, had some traumatic incidents in the past of a miscarriage. They moved back to Simonâ(TM)s home area, in a nice well architect house. Simon does run into his old high school classmate Gordon (Joel Edgerton). Gordon giving away a nicely gesture of giving them a welcoming gift at their new home. The couple soon realizes they are receiving more gifts, and frequent visits and stopping by unexpectedly. Simon does not want to share the past with his wife, as Gordonâ(TM)s agenda is a mystery.

It is a slow thriller that builds up as a stalker movie and as Robyn learns more about her husbands past with Gordon. The film is engaging as we see these characters interact, especially in a scene when Gordon invites them to his house which they are surprised by the big house as they sit in the dining room with an intensity that rises from wondering how each moment is going to play out with them. Even in the final shocking moments in the climax when Simon is viewing a video that Gordon gave to him and Joel Edgerton does well letting the viewers fill in the thoughts on what is going on with the situation. Joel Edgerton did well with starring in the film as a mystery guy, and Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall were good, we see a different side to Batemanâ(TM)s performance. "You think your done with the past. The past is not done with you. " Gordon tells Simon and is what makes the film unsettling.