The Gift (2014) is written/directed by Joel Edgerton. The movie revolves around a couple Simon (played by Jason Bateman) and his wife (played by Rebecca Hall) who experience an awkward dinner reunion with Gordon (AKA “Gordo”) who was Solomon’s high school friend. Please see my The Gift (2014) movie review below.
The Gift poster
This one peaked my interest due to some great online reviews that praised it as imaginative and intense. After going through it, I have to agree with those reviews as the movie is indeed very clever.
The whole movie focuses on the couple whose life turns upside down when an outside force is introduced into their happy marriage. This force brings doubt and uncertainty where the couple starts to mistrust each other and question their knowledge of each other. The pacing of the movie is slow with new seeds of doubt planted whenever Gordo is present on the screen. He is one of those characters that are hard to read. When he explains his back story, he comes of as an awkward individual with a troubled past. However, as the movie progresses, we get to see a new side of him. He changes into a new persona that can’t be manipulated and will stand up for himself.
Bateman’s character, who is a fresh departure from his usual comedic roles, is a complete opposite of Gordo. He is a man who is confident and enjoying his new corporate job at a security firm. He can be cocky, pushy, charming, and very assertive, all aspects of confident man who takes no crap from anyone. However, his wife (Robyn) who is dissatisfied with her job, begins to question him as a genuine nice guy. This is due to Gordo’s visits to their home when Simon is at work. He brings gifts that raise questions on things Simon tends to ignore or push to be dropped.
Simon wants to ignore the whole situation while Robyn, who is a caring and trustful person, becomes uneasy about the whole thing. She doesn’t know who to trust. Is the new person truly trustworthy or is her husband hiding something from her? Things spiral out of control very fast.
The movie is great. Not only does it have a great performance from all of the cast members, but the pacing (albeit slow at time), the cinematography, and the broody melodic tone all give it a great atmospheric vibe. The movie mainly relies on performance and a sense of doubt to carry it along. In this, it absolutely succeeds. It is fun and devastating to see these people going through a phase of their lives. They start to question their own judgment in the person they married just because an outside force was introduced into their seemingly perfect lives.
Another movie that is big in playing games and relies on deception is Hush (2016) – my review
