The Gift (2015)

[CJohn]

Discuss

[Vanilla]

Pretty good film.

One of the best of the year.

[Water Bottle]

Phenomenal.

 

A

[Mango]

Pretty good film. Did a great job at maintaining the sense of tension which ultimately made it pretty frightening.

B+

[Gopher]

Loved this. Perfectly sets up a solid home invasion film for 20-30 minutes before constantly shifting gears and altering perspectives so that nobody is really the good guy or the bad guy. An outstanding achievement by Edgarton, can't wait to see what he does next.

High school makes people do horrible things.

[Cmasterclay]

Posted in CC but forgot to review it after I saw it Saturday. Long story short, I fucking loved it. One of my top five of the year for sure, and if this winter slate didn't look so packed I wouldn't have much qualm with it staying there. Edgerton is a revelation as a director- I've always been a fan of his acting, but he crushes it here. His writing is tight and interesting, too, but it's really his tense, subversive, and intelligent direction that makes this movie pop. Subverts expectations at every turn and plays with morality in a way that keeps you fascinated the entire way. Go see this movie. 

[DAJK]

Really good movie, with great performances from all 3 leads, especially Edgerton who may become a great director someday if his resume is filled with movies like this. Is creepy without needing to be scary, and takes a few twists that I liked.

Glad I stayed away from spoilers, it made the movie a whole lot better.

B+

[baumer]

Must see this.

[Kalo]

Fantastic. had I not known this was Edgerton's first directorial feature film, I would have thought the man behind the camera to be a veteran of the art. from the well written tight script, to his is freakishly good performance of Gordo, he is the heart and soul of this movie. kudos to Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman for both giving some of the best performances I've seen this year. this movie was insanely suspenseful, without being cheap or in your face, I actually jumped out of my seat twice. brilliant! A- 

[Blankments]

It was very good. I'll admit I wasn't fully entertained and actually kind of bored for the first half hour, but I had a headache when watching it so I'll blame that. The twists and turns of the story are great; all three characters are imperfect beings that you really can't root for or root against. Hall and Edgerton were good, but Bateman really impressed me here; usually I can't stand his dramatic acting. Here he was well fleshed out in his portrayal and didn't feel just like a persona (which is what he usually feels like to me). The cinematography is weird at points, but the script and pitch perfect direction makes up for it. A

[baumer]

Freaking phenomenal!!

Biggest fuck you ending since Seven.

9/10

[FTF]

Freaking phenomenal!!

Biggest fuck you ending since Seven.

9/10

I liked it a lot too, though I don't have the same gusto about the ending. I liked the gifts and tapes he gives him showing him messing with his wife and then the phone call playing mind games with him...but if Bateman's character wasn't such an idiot, all he needs to do is get a paternity test and there goes all that lifelong torment, etc. Gordo wants him to have.

Though Gordo gets satisfaction from him losing his job/career and wife...and of course if he actually did rape her and that's his kid well yeah that's a pretty big fuck you (I'm on team no rape though in regards to Gordo).

Edited August 16, 2015 by FTF

[MovieGuyKyle17]

I been thinking and digesting this film for the past 18 hours and I have to say that The Gift is one of my favorite films this summer. This film from the outside looks like a generic stalker film but it's actually a really intense slow burn that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the movie. The way this film slowly peals back the layers of these characters keeps you guessing and makes you think about what is the motive of these characters. Joel Edgerton who plays Gordo, is fantastic. The first moment he's on the screen, my skin was crawling. He gives a standout performance and is very effective as the creep. Edgerton also wrote and directed this film. This is his first directed film and I have to say this film is handled like a experience director.

Grade: A-

[baumer]

Ftf

I agree with you. That is all he has to do. And I'm sure that he will. I know the movie is over and we will not find out but obviously he will get a paternity test or a DNA sample or whatever he needs to do. I don't think that's the point of the movie though the point is he made him think these things. He messed with his head. Yes it will not be a lifelong amount of torment as I really do not believe Gordo raped her. But he did play with his head he got him to lose his job lose his wife and make him at least think for a little while at the kid might not be his. That probably doesn't make up for all the torment that he put Gordo through but it is a pretty big f*** you.

I also love love love the fact that Gordo really might not be a bad guy in the film. Sure he really did some questionable things especially when he takes things to insinuate that he possibly raped her. But other than that did he really kidnap the dog did he really do anything worse than what Bateman's character did? That is one of the true strength of the film is that it really makes you question everything.

[ainsleyb]

I was looking forward to this because i'd heard the ending was shocking but, in all honesty, i pretty much guessed it 10-15 minutes into the film. As soon as the wife was awkward about the neighbours baby my thoughts were "hes going to get her pregnant".

 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the film, its slow but builds up a good amount of tension with a few turns along the way. Nothing groundbreaking but a solid film.

 

I'm also in the 'he didn't rape her' camp. I found it interesting seeing the links between Simon's lie and how it had effected Gordo as an adult. I might be reading too much into it, but the lack of a wife, his awkwardness and even his hooped ear ring made me think he actually was gay and that the bullying as a teenager had turned him that way. Simon kept saying that Gordo was obsessed with his wife but he was actually obsessed with Simon, he had been since high school. Robyn was just a way for Gordo to get at Simon.

[Jake Gittes]

What I appreciated about the ending is Edgerton's willingness to show that both Simon and Gordo end up losers. They are fucked up people trapped in a tragic vicious cycle where they can't help but destroy each other's lives (and breaking into another person's house, drugging a woman and filming it is some fucked up, pathetic shit even before the possible rape comes into play, no matter how much Gordo or the viewer might try to justify it). After all the careful manipulation, no one "wins" except maybe Robyn because at least she's gonna get away from both men. 

[Jake Gittes]

Also Bateman is just excellent here. It's a really smart subversion of his usual persona of the always-confident guy who believes he's the smartest and most rational person in the room; peel back the layers, and of course there's a lot of ugly alpha-male aggression and entitlement hidden underneath. 

[Gautske]

I was looking forward to this because i'd heard the ending was shocking but, in all honesty, i pretty much guessed it 10-15 minutes into the film. As soon as the wife was awkward about the neighbours baby my thoughts were "hes going to get her pregnant".

 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the film, its slow but builds up a good amount of tension with a few turns along the way. Nothing groundbreaking but a solid film.

 

I'm also in the 'he didn't rape her' camp. I found it interesting seeing the links between Simon's lie and how it had effected Gordo as an adult. I might be reading too much into it, but the lack of a wife, his awkwardness and even his hooped ear ring made me think he actually was gay and that the bullying as a teenager had turned him that way. Simon kept saying that Gordo was obsessed with his wife but he was actually obsessed with Simon, he had been since high school. Robyn was just a way for Gordo to get at Simon.

 

Saw this on the 7th, and I give it a B, maybe a B+ if I'm generous. I think it was decent and better than a lot of the stuff that's out there now (or comes out). It's very much a throwback to all the early 90s type of thrillers. (see Roeper's review where he lists a number of those movies that this made me think of while watching: http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movies/gift-thriller-keeps-giving-goosebumps/)

 

I quoted ainsleyb above because I similarly figured out early on where I thought this was going. I was hoping the twist/subversion would go in a different direction, but my initial suspicion turned out to be correct. For me, I found this too predictable and very disappointing. There were a few things that strained credulity throughout the movie, but I'll echo that it's still fairly solid. Now there were elements/scenes, even while watching it, I'm not sure would make sense on a rewatch, but many are so minor that most people don't seem to have as much of a problem with them as I did. 

 

I also didn't see any trailer for this movie (I thought it was actually going to be more horror than suspense until my friend let me know right before it started) and didn't realize Joel Edgerton was so intimately involved in so many aspects of the film. I think this is a really fine effort on his part and am interested in seeing what he does going forward. The whole "gay" thing was also in the back of my head as well because the one thing I did hear about it beforehand (from a podcast) revolved around some kind of "gay fling" but I wasn't sure if they were being facetious or not.

 

Bottomline, I'm not sure I really liked the ending (and/or execution of) as much as some other directions they could've gone. It probably takes my rating down a notch or two, but if you like suspense/thrillers, I still recommend checking it out. Oh, I do definitely like what they were going for with Bateman's character and that general theme as many have mentioned. Just felt this had a lot more potential. 

[baumer]

Yea Bateman has been one of my fave actors for years and this performance puts him on another level.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I thought it was fantastic. Edgerton digs the knife in slowly, but he's not afraid to twist it a few times, and the suspense of what truly went down increases rapidly, as bit by bit we find out the truth, as well as the ways in which these characters go to right their situation. Unfortunately, it seems that no one here makes a clean getaway, except for maybe Hall's character, while both Bateman and Edgerton slowly rip each other apart, also offering some commentary on masculine superiority and the American Dream.