The Gift (2015 American film)

The Gift
File:The Gift 2015 Film Poster1.png Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joel Edgerton
Produced by	Jason Blum Rebecca Yeldham Joel Edgerton
Written by	Joel Edgerton
Starring	Jason Bateman Rebecca Hall Joel Edgerton
Music by	Danny Bensi Saunder Jurriaans
Cinematography	Eduard Grau
Edited by	Luke Doolan
Distributed by	STX Entertainment (United States) Roadshow Films (Australia)
Release dates	July 30, 2015 (2015-07-30) (L.A. Live) August 7, 2015 (2015-08-07) (United States) August 27, 2015 (2015-08-27) (Australia)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$59 million

The Gift is a 2015 psychological thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Joel Edgerton in his feature directorial debut, and co-produced by Jason Blum and Rebecca Yeldham. The film stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as a couple intimidated by a figure from Bateman's past played by Edgerton.

It was released in the United States on August 7, 2015, as the first film released by STX Entertainment. The film grossed $59 million worldwide on a budget of $5 million and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Edgerton's direction and screenplay, as well as Bateman's performance.

Plot

A married couple, Simon and Robyn Callem, relocate from Chicago to a Los Angeles suburb after Simon takes a new job. They run into Gordon "Gordo" Moseley, Simon's old high school classmate. Gordo begins repeatedly dropping in unannounced and delivering gifts, such as bottles of wine and koi for their pond. His presence makes Simon uncomfortable, but Robyn sees no problem.

Gordo invites them and another couple to his large home, but when they arrive, he tells them the other couple cancelled. He exits abruptly to deal with a work problem, leaving the Callems alone and making Simon suspicious. When Gordo returns, Simon tells Gordo to stay away from them.

The next day, Robyn finds the koi dead and their dog missing. When Simon drives to Gordo's house to confront him, he discovers the home actually belongs to another couple. In the days following, Robyn begins to suspect that she is not alone in the house, finding faucets on and hearing footsteps. Unable to sleep, she steals prescription pills.

That night, the dog suddenly returns, and Robyn finds a letter of apology from Gordo in the mail. The message ends with a note to Simon that says Gordo was "willing to let bygones be bygones" with regard to an event from years prior, but not anymore. Simon claims he does not know what it refers to.

Simon asks his boss about a promotion and is told that his only competition is his coworker Danny McDonald. Robyn's increasing paranoia while home alone causes her to faint. She wakes up in bed the next morning and finds Simon with her stolen pills, revealing that this was a problem for her in Chicago.

Time passes, things improve, and Robyn becomes pregnant. One day however, she sees Gordo watching her while shopping. Simon's sister tells her that, in high school, Simon and his friend Greg reported that Gordo had been molested by an older boy, which led to Gordo getting bullied and transferring schools. Robyn discovers that Simon has run background checks on Danny McDonald and Gordo, who has spent his life in and out of prison. She seeks out Greg, who reveals the molestation story was fabricated by Simon, calling him a bully. As a result of the false report, Gordo's father thought Gordo was gay and tried to burn him alive, leading to his arrest for attempted murder and Gordo being sent to military school. When Robyn asks why Simon would have done such a thing, Greg replies, "because he could."

Robyn confronts Simon but he denies responsibility. At her behest, he tracks down Gordo and delivers a non-apology. Gordo knows Simon is insincere and warns Simon that the past is not done with him yet. Furious, Simon attacks Gordo. He later lies to Robyn, saying Gordo accepted his apology.

Simon is promoted, but at his celebration party, Danny McDonald hurls rocks at his house and accuses Simon of fabricating information and ruining his career in order to get the promotion. Robyn goes into labor and gives birth to a boy. Simon is fired for lying about McDonald, and Robyn tells him that she wants to separate.

Simon returns home to find another gift box, consisting of a key to their house, an audio recording of Simon and Robyn making fun of Gordo, and footage shot from inside their home that shows Gordo standing over Robyn when she had fainted, seemingly about to sexually assault her. Gordo wears the mask of a monkey (a lifelong fear for Simon) as he touches an unconscious Robyn on the bed before the camera cuts.

At the same time, Gordo visits Robyn at the hospital with a bandaged eye and his arm in a sling. He tells her that Simon caused his injuries. Simon rushes to the hospital but misses Gordo, who smirks at him as the elevator doors close. Gordo calls Simon to taunt him, refusing to confirm whether or not he raped Robyn and fathered the baby, just as Simon refused to come clean about the molestation story years before. With his marriage over and his career destroyed, Simon breaks down as Gordo watches and walks away, tossing away the sling from his arm.

Cast

• Jason Bateman as Simon
• Rebecca Hall as Robyn
• Joel Edgerton as Gordo
• Allison Tolman as Lucy
• Wendell Pierce as Detective Mills
• Tim Griffin as Kevin "KK" Keelor
• Beau Knapp as Detective Walker
• Adam Lazarre-White as Ron
• Katie Aselton as Joan
• P.J. Byrne as Danny
• David Denman as Greg
• Busy Philipps as Duffy

Joel Edgerton's brother, Nash Edgerton, plays the part of Frank Dale, in addition to his duties as the film's stunt coordinator.

Production

Development

The project was announced in August 2012, when it was reported that Joel Edgerton had written a psychological thriller script titled Weirdo, with which Edgerton would also be making his directing debut. His inspirations for the screenplay included Alfred Hitchcock, Fatal Attraction and Michael Haneke's 2005 French film Caché, as well as Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy.

Filming

Principal photography began on January 19, 2015, and ended on February 20, 2015. A majority of filming took place at a home in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, where STX Entertainment also held promotional interviews for the film.

The film was shot on an Arri Alexa with Canon K35 lenses, and was filmed in 25 days, according to its cinematographer, Eduard Grau. Grau was recommended by Nash Edgerton, who served as the film's stunt coordinator, after the two were part of the production for the 2013 short film Streetcar.

In an interview with Collider, Edgerton revealed that he did not start filming his acting role until two weeks into shooting (devoting that time, instead, solely to directing). As soon as he did, his older brother Nash assisted on set behind the camera. Edgerton completed shooting his role as Gordo in seven days.

Post-production

Post-production took eleven weeks from March to June 2015. Luke Doolan also edited Sundance winner Animal Kingdom (also starring Edgerton).

Distribution

On January 20, 2015, STX Entertainment bought the United States distribution rights to the film. STX retitled the film The Gift.

Release

STX initially set The Gift for domestic release on July 31, 2015, and later moved it to August 7, 2015.

Marketing

The first trailer was released on April 1, 2015. It premiered on Twitter's live video streaming app Periscope, making STX Entertainment the first advertiser to work with Twitter on a campaign incorporating Periscope.

Reception

Box office

The Gift grossed $43.8 million in North America and $15.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $59 million, against a budget of $5 million.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $11.9 million, finishing third at the box office behind Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ($28.5 million) and fellow newcomer Fantastic Four ($25.7 million).

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 91%, based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Gift is wickedly smart and playfully subversive, challenging the audience's expectations while leaving them leaning on the edges of their seats." Metacritic gives the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Time Out's Daisy Bowie-Sell praised The Gift as "darkly unnerving", commending its ending and comparing it positively to a similar film, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. In a review for IndieWire, Katie Walsh lamented the film's use of common thriller cliches and restraint towards the climax, but lauded Joel Edgerton's direction, concluding: "His deft, controlled maneuvering of plot, character, style, and tone is damn near perfect for his feature debut—even if it is in service of a very standard genre piece."

Critics also praised Bateman, known for portraying the “straight man” in comedies, for playing against type as the mean-spirited Simon. RogerEbert.com’s Sheila O’Malley wrote that Bateman gives a “beautiful and focused performance” as someone who is “kindly and condescending, sometimes in the same moment”. Collider's Matt Goldberg commented that, while the film “almost goes too far in making [Simon] a sociopath”, Bateman's charisma worked for the character: “What makes Bateman inherently likable gives Simon a lot of his power, and it’s a memorable performance as we despise the character but also wonder if he deserves vicious comeuppance for what he did to Gordo.” Slate's Keith Phipps wrote that “Bateman plays Simon with the easy charm and everyman approachability of past roles,” but “pushes the charm into smarm and the approachability into sleaze.”

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Sitges Film Festival	Best Actor	Joel Edgerton	Won
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actor
	Best Wide-Release Film		Nominated
	Best Screenplay
Directors Guild of America Awards	First-Time Feature Film Director
Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Film Artist (for producing, directing and screenwriting)
	Best Overlooked Film		Runner-up
Empire Awards	Best Thriller		Nominated
Saturn Awards	Best Thriller Film		Nominated

External links

• Official website
• The Gift at IMDb
• The Gift at Box Office Mojo
• The Gift at Rotten Tomatoes
• cool stuff to buy
• The Gift at Metacritic