Review of The Gift (2015) by Manon M — 27 Oct 2015

Sold as a thriller, but truly more a drama with a bit of horror on the side. Nevertheless every frame grips you and makes you cringe. "The Gift" is easily one of the most tense movies I've seen this year and it's a shame that it didn't get the attention it actually deserves. There's never a dull moment and the movie truly holds you on the edge of your seat.

At the start of this movie it seems to be pretty clear who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist but as the movie progress those lines star to blur and creates for an interesting dynamic that they really pulled off. There are three really good performances in this film. Jason Bateman shows some range in his acting ability and this is definitely my favorite role from him. Bateman is known for playing the straight-man in comedies and I've begun to get sick of him playing the same smart-ass character and even at first it seems like it he is just going to fool me once more but his character evolves as the movie goes and so does his performance. Rebecca Hall was also great playing Bateman's wife who has her own troubles and is an interesting character to watch. I understood a lot of her issues and she did a great job and she steals the show in some scenes. Finally Joel Edgerton could've played any role in this movie and he chose to play the villain, and I think he made an excellent choice.

This film is a little unorthodox because there are points when you really aren't sure who the villain is because Jason Batman character is also a terrible person and sometimes you want to feel bad for Edgerton.

Edgerton also did an excellent job of writing the film, he has the sole writing credit and this film does not drag out any reveals and it has some really great twists and turns that leave no lose ends. It may lose some of its re-watch ability because of these turns, but it is still an excellent watch.

A very respectable movie!