The Gift Review | Road Rash Reviews

4 stars for this surprising and intelligent thriller.

The Gift is written and directed by Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Black Mass), his directorial debut and produced by Jason Blum (Insidious: Chapter 3, Whiplash).

It is a very well thought out and compelling story which has you gripped from beginning to end.

Simon (Jason Bateman – Horrible Bosses, Juno) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall – Transcendence, Iron Man 3) are a young couple who have decided to relocate from the big city to the suburbs. Simon has a new job and it will be up to Robyn to set up their new home. They have some issues like any couple but overall things are going great.

One day while out shopping they bump into Gordo (Joel Edgerton), an old school friend of Simon’s, who seems extraordinarily happy to see him again. Shortly after, he takes to bringing random gifts over to the house uninvited (they never told him where they lived) including some Coi for their new pond.

He always turns up when Simon is out and he is extremely suspicious, however Robyn feels he is just being mean and that they should give him a chance. After a disastrous evening over at Gordo’s house when Simon tells him to leave his family alone, Robyn returns home the following day to find the fish dead and the dog missing.

As more and more secrets are revealed Robyn begins to wonder how well she knows the man she married and Simon is forced to learn that all actions have consequences.

The Gift is very tense to watch, the atmosphere is beautifully set up and the acting is excellent. Joel Edgerton is magnificently sinister as “Gordo the weirdo” and the others performances easily match up. The story is also very unpredictable and surprisingly cliche free for a film of this genre.

I had no idea at all where this was going and I always enjoy that in a thriller. Definitely A Gift worth putting in a loved one’s stocking this Christmas.

“See, you’re done with the past, but the past is not done with you.”