# The Giver (film)

The Giver is a 2014 American dystopian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Cameron Monaghan, Taylor Swift, and Emma Tremblay. The film is based on the 1993 young adult novel of the same name by Lois Lowry. The Giver premiered on August 11, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on August 15, 2014. It grossed $67 million on a $25 million budget and received a People's Choice Award nomination for "Favorite Dramatic Movie".

## Plot

Following a calamity referred to as "the Ruin", society has been reorganized, taking away any sense of emotion, good or bad. Babies are brought into being through genetic engineering, and sexual desire is chemically suppressed. All memories of the past are held by one person, the Receiver of Memory, to shield the rest of the community. Receiver of Memory and his protégé are the only people able to see in color, which is otherwise eliminated from the community to prevent envy. The community is ruled by elders, including the Chief Elder. Jonas is an 18-year-old boy whose best friends are Asher and Fiona.
On graduation day, Jonas is told that he will become the next Receiver of Memory and will progressively receive memories of history from his predecessor, the Giver. During his training with the Giver, Jonas gradually learns about the past and about joy, pain, death, and love. He stops taking his daily injections (which had stopped him from dreaming and thinking about Fiona, for whom he has feelings) and begins to experience emotion. Those who leave the community are said to have been "Released to Elsewhere", but Jonas learns that to be a euphemism for murder by lethal injection. Jonas also learns that the Giver's daughter, Rosemary, had preceded Jonas as Receiver of Memory. When she began her training, however, Rosemary became so distraught from the memories that she received that she asked to be Released.
Jonas learns the memories received from the Giver and accidentally shares his memories with a baby, Gabriel, who was brought home by his father. He develops a close relationship with Gabriel upon discovering that they share a birthmark, the mark of a potential Receiver of Memory, and both can see in color.
Appalled by the deception of his community and the Elders' disregard for human life, Jonas comes to believe that everyone should have memories of the past. Eventually, the Giver and Jonas decide that the only way to help the community is for Jonas to travel past the border of their land to "Elsewhere". Doing so would release memories and color back into the community. When Jonas tries to leave his neighborhood, he encounters Asher, who tries to stop Jonas but is punched by Jonas. Jonas retrieves Gabriel, who is to be Released for having failed to meet a developmental marker at the Nurturing Center.
Meanwhile, Jonas' mother and Asher go to the Chief Elder to say that Jonas is missing. Jonas steals a motorcycle and drives away with Gabriel. Asher is assigned by the Chief Elder to use a drone to find Jonas and "Lose" him (another euphemism for murder). When Asher finds Jonas and Gabriel in the desert, Jonas beseeches Asher to trust him and to let them go. Instead, Asher captures them with the drone but sets them free by dropping them into a river. When he is questioned by the Chief Elder, Asher bends the truth and says that he has followed her orders.
Fiona is condemned to be Released for helping Jonas. Just as she is about to be Released by Jonas' father, the Giver tries to persuade the Chief Elder that the Elders should free the community. Unmoved by the Giver's arguments, the Chief Elder asserts that freedom is a bad idea because when they are left to their own devices, people make bad choices.
Jonas and Gabriel enter a snowy area. Jonas falls to the ground and is overcome by the cold weather. However, he sees a sled like the one that he rode in a memory that he had received from the Giver. Jonas and Gabriel ride the sled downhill and cross the border into Elsewhere, which frees their community and also saves Fiona's life as Jonas' father stops short of "releasing" her upon realizing his intentions. Jonas realizes that he has succeeded in his quest.

## Cast

* Jeff Bridges as The Giver
* Meryl Streep as Chief Elder
* Brenton Thwaites as Jonas
* Alexander Skarsgård as Jonas' father
* Katie Holmes as Jonas' mother
* Odeya Rush as Fiona
* Cameron Monaghan as Asher
* Taylor Swift as Rosemary
* Emma Tremblay as Lily

## Production

Jeff Bridges initially wanted to film the movie in the mid-1990s, and a script was written by 1998. Various barriers prevented production of the film, including Warner Bros. buying the rights in 2007. The rights were finally bought by The Weinstein Company and Walden Media.
Bridges originally intended that his own father, Lloyd Bridges, would play the title character, The Giver, but he died in 1998, before the project.
Principal photography began on October 7, 2013, in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Meryl Streep had some of her scenes shot in England, where she was also filming Rob Marshall's Into the Woods. Later she completed before additional filming in Paarl, a town near Cape Town. The filming was completed on February 13, 2014, in Utah.

## Music

The score for The Giver was composed by Marco Beltrami. The song "Ordinary Human" by OneRepublic was featured in the movie. The film also features Tori Kelly's "Silent". The soundtrack was released on August 5, 2014, by Interscope Records.

## Release

On July 11, 2014, it was announced that The Weinstein Company and Walden Media would be teaming up with Fathom Events to stream the red carpet premiere to more than 250 theaters in the US on August 11, four days before its official release. Ziegfeld Theatre hosted the film's premiere in New York City.
The Giver grossed $45.1 million domestically (United States and Canada) and $21.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $67.0 million, against a budget of $25 million. It opened at its peak position of No. 5 at the domestic box office, and spent its first five weeks in the Top 10.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of 169 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Phillip Noyce directs The Giver with visual grace, but the movie doesn't dig deep enough into the classic source material's thought-provoking ideas." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Richard Roeper gave the film a "C" and stated that "the magic [of the novel] gets lost in translation".

## Accolades

| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
| Denver Film Critics Society 2015 | Best Original Song | "Ordinary Human" | Nominated |
| Golden Trailer Awards 2015 | Golden Fleece | The Weinstein Company Buddha Jones | Won |
| Golden Trailer Awards 2015 | Best Fantasy/Adventure TV Spot | The Weinstein Company Aspect | Nominated |
| Heartland Film 2014 | Truly Moving Picture Award | Phillip Noyce Asis Productions The Weinstein Company | Won |
| Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) 2014 | Outstanding Music Supervision - Film | Dana Sano | Nominated |
| Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) 2014 | Best Soundtrack Album | The Giver | Nominated |
| Movieguide Awards 2015 | The Faith and Freedom Award for Movies | The Giver | Won |
| 41st People's Choice Awards | Favorite Dramatic Movie | The Giver | Nominated |
| The Joey Awards 2014 | Young Actress Age 9 or Younger in a Feature Film Leading Role | Emma Tremblay | Nominated |