The Gift

Plot synopsis:
Simon and Robyn Callum (Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) are a married couple moving from Chicago to California while recovering from a recent miscarriage. They find a nice home near the place Simon used to live and decide to settle in.While getting furniture for their house, a man (Joel Edgerton) approaches Simon and claims to know him from high school. Simon doesn't recognize him until the man says his name is Gordon Mosely, or simply Gordo. He politely welcomes the couple to the area and leaves.Gordo first drops off a bottle of wine on the couple's doorstep as a welcoming gift. He later shows up while Simon is at work. Robyn invites him in, and takes him on a tour of the house. In one room, they find a large toy monkey, and Robyn tells Gordo that Simon has a fobia of monkeys. Robyn invites Gordo to stay for dinner. When Simon joins them, Gordo tells Robyn about how Simon used to have a campaign for class president and using "Simon Says" as his slogan, and it would get him anything he wanted. A little too drunk from wine, Gordo makes a comment that "Simon Says..." applies to all the nice things Simon has in his life (great home, beautiful wife, nice job, etc.) which makes the couple a bit uncomfortable.Simon doesn't approve of Gordo visiting them, even crossing his name out over his phone number on the fridge and writing "Weirdo", as that was Gordo's nickname in high school. Gordo continues to come to their house when Simon is at work, and he leave gifts like a bunch of koi fish for the pond in front of their home, and he gets their cable TV working. He walks into the kitchen and sees "Weirdo" written on the fridge and leaves offended. To Robyn's surprise, Gordo later invites the couple over for a dinner party.Simon and Robyn go to a surprisingly nice home for the party. Gordo tells them that the other couple he invited just canceled on them. During conversation, he mentions that he is not married. Gordo then gets a phone call which he claims is from work and he leaves Simon and Robyn home alone. Simon then starts making rude comments about Gordo, saying that he has a crush on Robyn and wants to do perverted things to her. Simon then suggests they go exploring the house. They find a bedroom with women's clothing, as well as what appears to be a child's bedroom. They hear Gordo's car returning and they run back to the living room. When Gordo comes back inside, Simon asks him what he does for work. Gordo says that he lied and that he actually took a call from his ex-wife and admitted that it was a heated conversation. Simon insists that Robyn leave the room and Simon forcefully tells Gordo that he doesn't want him visiting them anymore.The next morning, Robyn thinks she hears noises while home alone. She goes outside and discovers that the koi fish are dead, and their dog, Mr. Bojangles, is nowhere to be found. Simon later goes back to Gordo's house, being greeted at the door by a woman whom he thinks is Gordo's wife. It turns out that Gordo doesn't actually live there. The Callums call the cops and find out that the couple in the house did know Gordo, and he had a key, since he handled their leased cars, and he had apparently used the key to get inside while the couple was on vacation. Without sufficient evidence, the cops can't do more than question Gordo, and they observe that Gordo would know who sent the authorities to him.Simon is being considered for a promotion at work, and after a good meeting with the two men who head the company, a colleague tells him that he has only one competitor for the position, Danny McDonald (PJ Byrne).Robyn continues to feel like Gordo is watching her at home. She takes some prescription pills that she pinched from their next door neighbor, and she faints in the bedroom. She awakens to find herself lying on the bed.At night, Robyn walks into the kitchen and thinks she hears a noise. A thump is heard at the door. It's Bojangles, safely returned home. Robyn wakes Simon up and they talk in the kitchen as Simon mentions he was going to tell Robyn that he got a promotion at work, but he found her passed out. He also takes out the pills he found and thinks that Robyn has had a relapse after previously abusing pills during their stay in Chicago. Robyn argues that Simon doesn't believe her suspicions about Gordo. Simon just thinks that the man has had a negative influence on their lives and it would be best to forget about him and move on.Over the next few months, Robyn becomes pregnant again. The couple lives on just fine until Robyn is told that a man is watching her at work. It's Gordo. Later, the couple finds a letter that apologizes for him bothering them, and he addresses Simon by saying he was willing to let "bygones be bygones". Simon denies knowing what Gordo is talking about.The couple goes to a baby shower for Robyn. She later takes a walk with Simon's sister Joan (Katie Aselton). Robyn asks her if she knew anything about Gordo. Joan says that it was reported that Simon and his friend Greg (David Denman) found Gordo in a car being molested by an older student, and this made everyone think he was gay.Robyn looks up Greg's name online and finds that he's a chiropractor. She makes an appointment to see him and starts to ask him about what happened between Simon and Gordo. Greg does not want to answer her questions, but finally tells her that Simon made up the story about Gordo being molested because Simon was a bully and frequently targeted Gordo. This story also led to Gordo's father trying to burn him alive after thinking he was gay, resulting in his father's arrest.Robyn goes to Simon's home office and searches his desk, finding two files. One contains information about Gordo, and the other is about Danny McDonald, the other finalist for the job that Simon is hoping to get. She sees a mugshot of Gordo, as he was apparently arrested years ago for burglary. Robyn later confronts Simon when he gets home, and he callously states that while he did not know what Gordo's father tried doing to him, he doesn't care since his own dad was hard on him, but he toughed it out and doesn't feel he's done anything wrong. He starts to comment on Robyn taking pills, and she slaps him, saying he's just as much a bully now as he was back then. Simon later apologized to her and says he did a background check on Gordo to protect themselves.Simon goes to a bar where Gordo is hosting a trivia contest. Afterwards, Simon finds Gordo in a parking garage and gives him a half-hearted apology, mainly because Robyn told him to. Gordo says it's too late for that, and while Simon thinks he's done with the past, the past isn't done with him. Simon knocks a basket out of Gordo's hands, spilling papers everywhere. Simon then kicks Gordo as he tries to pick them up, then presses him against the pavement, demanding that he accept his apology. Simon leaves and goes home to tell Robyn that Gordo won't bother them again.Simon gets the job, and the Callums host a dinner party to celebrate. A clattering sound is heard from upstairs, followed by another, and then something is thrown through the glass door, triggering the security system. Simon runs outside and sees someone running away. He tackles the man to the ground, thinking it's Gordo, but it is really Danny McDonald, angry with Simon for fabricating information about him that not only cost him the promotion, but it also cost him his current job. Police sirens are heard, and Danny starts begging to be let go. Simon relents and lets him leave. Robyn then announces that she's going into labor.Robyn gives birth to a healthy baby boy. However, she tells Simon that she doesn't want to go back home with him due to all the drama and madness he's caused. When he leaves her room, he gets a call from work saying he's being let go after word got aout that he lied about Danny.Simon returns home to find a big wrapped box outside. In it is a baby bassinet the, and three numbered boxes. The first one contains a key to their house, showing how Gordo has been getting in and around their house. The second box has a tape that recorded Simon mocking Gordo when he left them to take his phone call. The third box contains a DVD of recorded footage showing Simon and Robyn having dinner and sleeping. Then there's footage of Robyn when she passed out, followed by Gordo wearing a monkey mask (to spite Simon since he has a phobia of monkeys) and pulling Robyn onto the bed, stroking her and waving to the mirror. The footage cuts off, leaving Simon to think that Gordo may have raped Robyn. While Simon watches the DVD, Gordo visits Robyn in the hospital with flowers to congratulate her on her baby. He has a bruise on his face and his arm in a sling. Robyn asks if Simon did it. Gordo simply states that people will get what they deserve and he exits.Simon rushes back to the hospital and finds Gordo getting into an elevator, but he fails to catch him. Simon runs out the hospital to give chase and gets a call from Gordo. He demands to know if Gordo really did what Simon thinks he did. Gordo says no, but then suggests maybe he did, and this is what happens when a bad idea is put into someone's head.Simon goes to find the baby to get a better look at his eyes. It still doesn't let him know whether the baby is Simon's or Gordo's. Robyn holds the baby and looks at Simon with displeasure. Simon slumps against the wall and quietly weeps, knowing his whole life is now ruined. Gordo briefly watches Simon before leaving and removing the sling from his arm... his mission to heartlessly destroy Simon's life is now completed.

Tags: sadist, revenge, suspenseful, violence, flashback

Review:
The premise is also deceptively simple, turning more intricate and involving as the film progresses.Edgerton, who also wrote the screenplay, refuses to adhere to genre conventions, constantly subverting audience's expectations on how the story plays out.
Excellently directed and very well acted,this clever little well - wrapped gift is all we need to let us know that the proper movie making process is still alive and kicking.
As they shop for furniture Simon(Jason Bateman) encounters an old acquaintance from High school, Gordon or Gordo(Joel Edgerton), with a creepy demeanor and an obvious grudge.The Gift is Hitchcockian.
Little do they know that their perfect lives are about to be thrown into a terrifying tailspin.This film standing as Joel Edgerton's directional debut, I must say is pretty impressive.
This was a well crafted thriller put together by Edgerton, it wasn't as predictable as most thrillers are these days, it was simply one where our expectations keep getting pummeled to ground from how the story keeps transitioning.Everyone in this were simply astonishing, Edgerton played such a compelling creepy loner with so much aplomb, Hall played her role perfectly as a depressed woman that can't stress enough with all the fear and for Bateman, coming from his comedic standpoint, simply impressed as the husband with one troubling past.
The Gift most certainly gave deliberate pacing, believable characters, and masterful understanding of cinematic suspense, Edgerton really proved that this film shouldn't be the last present we receive from him..
Equally so it's a home horror film, for some of the traditional tropes of that genre are in place (e.g., missing dog, running faucet) waiting around the corner of any room so to speak.Super security salesman Simon (Jason Bateman) is happily married to interior designer Robyn (Rebecca Hall).
Then Simon's old high school friend, weirdo Gordo (Joel Edgerton), visits with gifts and memories of a troubled past.Their home is indeed invaded, not just by nerdy, strange Gordo, who has a bad habit of showing up at odd times and gaining access at even odder ones, but by the past, which is creeping up on the couple despite Simon's will to leave it all behind and Gordo's to "let bygones be bygones." The film bears its tensions well, distributing its exposition of the past in the present slowly.The Gift doesn't just give the present a chance to come to terms with the past; it also comments on privacy, security, and bullying while serving up a fine stew of ironies and suspense.
As for bullying, not the first time in a thriller, it plays out from high school days to adult days in a surprisingly subtle way, forcing us over the long haul of the film's 108 minutes to see it lurking like a clichéd ghost or murderer.Marriage is also a subject in this taut film, namely how much do we really know about our partners or anyone close to us?
The 90's was the golden age of highly stylized stalker thrillers with flicks like Basic Instinct, Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and the actor-turned-director Joel Edgerton hearkens back to those films with his directorial debut The Gift.
The Gift is a surprisingly well-crafted and intense thriller film that feels like a throwback to the best 90's stalker flicks..
When it comes to direction, Edgerton has a great sense of how to use an enclosed location to amplify the tension, because at the heart of it, 'The Gift' is a thriller that thrives on the creation of tension.
Edgerton himself plays the character who initially seems like the typical creepy outsider who'll haunt the couple, but as the film progresses, the film slowly reveals certain aspects of his character and the film somewhat subverts some clichés.'The Gift' is a bit like the lighter, non-flashy, a little more grounded version of 'Cape Fear'.
This looked like a Lifetime straight to TV movie when I saw the trailer and I won't lie that is what attracted me because good thrillers do come along but you gotta wait for them sometimes.
All throughout the movie I felt like I was watching a film that tried very hard to be like Old Boy. Like Old Boy, it's a story about the past coming back to haunt the main character.
But unlike Old Boy, The Gift leaves you feeling disappointed in the end.The only reason I didn't walk away from the film is because I was patiently waiting for the mind blowing secret to be revealed.
(Still Alice was the other.) A better title for this film might be: "How NOT to respond to a stalker." I can't imagine ANY educated,successful couple playing along with an unstable weirdo for more than a minute.The acting is second-rate from beginning to end, and I think that's because there's only so much any actor can do with a bad script.BTW: recently, while shopping for some good info about writing, I found that there are MANY books on "how to write a screenplay." No doubt they are full of formulas.It wouldn't surprise me if this script came from such an instruction tool..
The Gift is a story of a newly married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) who have moved into a new area, they have their dream, forever house and are very content with their lives.
The supporting cast are few and far between and the little screen time they did get wasn't anything special.The Gift is a slow burner, it progresses at a very leisurely pace, building suspense and mystery very well as the story unfolds.
I was expecting a lot from the film, it had a big hype with some very good reviews and it's a genre that I usually enjoy.The overall end message is striking, with the climax of the movie coming together quite well.
The Gift is an outstanding psychological thriller directed by first time director, Joel Edgerton!
There is a message at the end of the movie if you can take that home.Jason Bateman, Rebecca hall and Joel Edgerton have all literally lived in their roles and are a delight to watch.
'The Gift' is for the AudienceRedemption, revenge and forgiveness are major themes in first-time director Joel Edgerton's tense psychological thriller, 'The Gift.' Edgerton also plays one of three main characters, Gordo, in the film, and he wrote the script.
Joel Edgerton and Rebecca Hall are really great in this film but the one person that stand out the most was Jason Bateman.
When I was watching this film I didn't see actors acting I saw real people and that why Edgerton's writing was so good.
They do a disservice to their commodity, either giving away too much plot, as in Southpaw, Max, Ricky and the Flash, or Woman in Gold or totally misleading the audience into thinking it is seeing another genre with its slight-of-hand like Mr. Holmes and our main event today, The Gift, which comes off as a possibly violent psycho-slasher thriller when the opposite is true.
The Gift is that atypical movie that respects its own genre and doesn't go that easy route and one needs to admire such a film.The film starts off rather slowly as we met Robyn (Rebecca Hall) and Simon (Jason Bateman), a well-to-do couple recently moved to Los Angeles.
It had a little horror mixed in with the suspense but not so much that it took away from the film.This was a story that fully shows that a person's actions good or bad can always come back to haunt them and even the simple message of the film wasn't too in your face.
Joel Edgerton directed and stars in this stalker thriller, and the results, while uneven, show quite a bit of promise in Edgerton's skills as a director.Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall play a newly-transplanted married couple who reconnect with an old high school classmate of Bateman's (Edgerton).
It's never clear exactly how dangerous Edgerton's character is, and there's a tipping point in the movie after which Bateman -- who can play cocky jerk like nobody's business -- becomes the film's true villain, and the dynamic between him and Hall and their toxic marriage becomes much more interesting than the stalker plot line.
But the film can't quite commit to letting the stalker plot line go entirely, so it becomes a sort of diluted side plot that works toward a hard sell ending that doesn't feel right for the kind of movie preceding it.
I start watching this movie thinking it would be another "stalker from the past comes to make a family's life a real living in hell and everything turns out fine at the end", but no, this movie is a psychological horror-thriller with so many details!
Even more than that, it is a masterful directorial debut that makes Joel Edgerton one of the most interesting new directors of the year and an artist for whom to look forward to in the future.The best aspect of the film which I simply can't keep in me is how good is the performance Edgerton gives considering also he is directing himself.
Joel Edgerton's filmmaking career commences on an impressive note for The Gift is a finely balanced, smartly scripted & wonderfully executed thriller that makes splendid use of all its elements to deliver a consistently tense & captivating movie that scores high marks in most departments and is a welcome addition to its genre.The story of The Gift follows a young married couple who have relocated to a new town for a fresh beginning & to start a new family.
But a chance encounter with an old acquaintance sets in motion a chain of events that ultimately turns their life upside down as this old friend not only showers them with numerous gifts but also an unsettling secret from the past.Written & directed by Joel Edgerton, who also stars in the movie as a supporting character, The Gift is smoothly narrated from start to finish and allows the moments of uncertainty to shape up in an incredibly natural manner.
The production design is impressive, camera-work is concise & fluid, its 108 minutes of runtime is expertly paced, and music has a very muted presence.Coming to the performances, the cast mainly comprises of Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall & Joel Edgerton, and even though there isn't any standout work from anyone, all of them do a good enough job with their given roles.
Bateman & Hall play the married couple and share a good rapport with each other throughout the picture while Edgerton is just as committed in front of the camera as he's behind it.On an overall scale, The Gift is a skilfully written & splendidly directed psychological thriller that's much aware of its limitations, plays well to its strengths and for a debut feature, it's a very sophisticated piece of work.
After he is shunned by the couple, he gradually taunts the husband and unleashes a secret about him that threatens their marriage.The plot is pretty fast-paced from start to finish, as the film grabs your attention almost immediately - from the appearance of awkward Gordo (Joel Edgerton) to the mind games he plays with Simon (Jason Bateman), with Simon's wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) caught in the middle of it all.The acting, though, was a little off as I thought some of the emotions were campy and the American accents by the Australian actors were forced.
At 1:48 minutes, "The Gift" is a bit overlong, with two or three sections that don't seem to go anywhere— but the rest of the movie (including the final act) has terrific momentum that helps balance everything out.Something about the movie-- maybe its tone, or style, or suburban setting-- makes me think of mystery thrillers from the early 2000s, like "Murder by Numbers" or "Along Came a Spider." It's a quiet movie featuring wealthy people speaking quietly, in fear of stirring up demons from their pasts or thoughts in their heads.
THE GIFT is a dramatic thriller written and directed by Joel Edgerton, starring Edgerton, Jason Bateman, and Rebecca Hall.
'The Gift' is a mystery thriller starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and is the directorial debut for Joel Edgerton who also starred in the film.
The first hour of the film in combination with the fantastic finale shows that Joel Edgerton can do a really good job at creating a film with good tone, characters and plot that work really well together, but that drop off in the second act shows that he still has a little more to learn in the art of directing.
Lets now move on to the cast and their performances, to me, i thought the whole cast were pretty great and it was a relatively small cast with only Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton, and Rebecca Hall playing characters you will remember.
The Gift is a creepy psychological thriller that features great performances, and an ending that you won't see coming.
As far as directorial debuts go this is one of the better ones in recent memory, and Joel Edgerton does a great job through acting and directing creating a terrifying tone for the film to settle in to.
The film features great performances by Joel Edgerton, Jason Bateman, and Rebecca Hall.
My Rating: 1/10I, along with many other viewers, found the ending really stupid and it pretty much completely undoes the entire first half, which is brilliant I might add, and reduces the film to a mere cheap cop-out soap story.Really disappointed and feel let down by all the people listing it as a top thriller in their recommendations..
The plot has you hooked from the start, it has an incredibly eerie feel to it and, like all good thrillers, it has a few big twists that most people won't see coming.Towards the end of the film, as the story unravels and a dramatic ending is set up, I was genuinely on the edge of my seat.
The gift to me was when I discovered Joel Edgerton is not only Gordo, the creepy stalker in the film, but also the writer/director of the piece.
Through a course of events, the film becomes a typical stalker thriller but eventually sets itself apart as a very clever, well written, and telling "human nature" account of who everybody "really" is (not just Gordo).I really liked "The Gift" because I enjoy psychology.
Whatever the case, this is a nifty little film for Edgerton to make his directional debut with and Rebecca Hall is solid as Bateman's wife too, riddled with the sort of fear and paranoia that arguably her husband should have when everything is finally revealed and made clear..
The worst cliché is the change in characters as new plot points are revealed characters dramatically change in personality to just over the degree in which I'd feel is realistic, with characters requiring to be unreasonable in the later half for an ending that is played off as life ruining, only when a modicum of thought needed to see the multitude of flaws in a character's plan.It's a solid film with good direction and pace, reasonable acting and writing, enjoyable in short, however if a cliché thriller plot might bother you then it might be worth skipping..
The Gift presents this potentially familiar condition and enhanced it with stalker thriller that's also grounded in realism, bringing a deeper psychological aspect into a commentary of the characters aside from just utilizing typical "odd man chasing nice protagonist" formula.Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a couple who recently relocated back into the husband's home city.
Writer-director Joel Edgerton casts himself as Gordy, a strange and mysterious guy who suddenly becomes an unwelcome friend of a happy and ambitious, upwardly mobile couple, Simon, played perfectly by Jason Bateman, and Rebecca Hall as his devoted but high strung wife.
The Gift is the story of a married couple (Jason Batemen and Rebecca Hall)who purchase a new home in California and come upon an old school'friend' of Batemen's in the form of 'Gordo' played by Director and Writer of the film Joel Edgerton, what follows is a 108 minute thrill ride filled with tension, an incredible amount of twists and some truly phenomenal acting.
There, they run into Gordo, Simon's former high school classmate, which sparks a chain of events consisting of gifts, horrifying past secrets, and an ending no one saw coming.The three main roles were played to perfection throughout the whole film.
And lets not forget Joel Edgerton (Gordo) putting on a fantastic performance as a mysterious, creepy guy who no one feels comfortable being in the same room with.Throughout the whole movie, my heart was pounding through my chest and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next.
Joel Edgerton's The Gift (which he wrote, directed and co stars in) was certainly a film that took me by surprise.
The acting from Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Edgerton himself is also all top notch and serves the film well.
He got one of Rebecca Hall's best performances out of her and I don't think Jason Bateman has ever been better.But like I said before, it wouldn't be a great thriller if the writing of the inevitable twist or climax wasn't done well.
generally you can most of the time predict what the movie is about after watching the trailer,so far it's not the case at all for thisfilm, what ever you think it is may be wrong, that is a good thing about The Gift.but there is also amoral behind the story, and a good one.the casting, acting, and 'mise en scene' were great, noting to said about that, I also liked the suspense from the beginning until the last minute, during this you don't stop asking your self, what all this about?
The trick with movies like this though, is that the ending better pay off, or your audience will feel as though the film has wasted their time.