Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
When was the last time you found yourself genuinely unsettled by a film? It’s not often a thriller can grab you by the shoulders and shake you, but when one does, it should be shared. That’s exactly what we get with The Gift, a smart, sleek thriller written and directed by star Joel Edgerton – and it’s now streaming on Netflix. Also starring Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, the flick starts like many stalker thrillers do; pleasant couple (Bateman and Hall) living in a new town encounters friendly seeming guy from the past (Edgerton), begins receiving strange visits from guy, guy seems to go crazy. But it doesn’t end there. It begins there. And only gets crazier.
Rather than bombarding the couple with terrifying, gruesome gifts, as the title might imply, Edgerton’s Gordon plants little seeds of unsettlement as the film goes on. He creates discomfort in Simon and Robyn’s marriage, even elicits sympathy from us. There is, undeniably, something off about him. Is it the deadened stare, the strange speaking pattern, the ambiguous shared past of him and Simon? It’s all a mystery, and a good one, at that. Who is this person, and what does he want? Is there really a big secret waiting to be revealed? The fact that the twists and turns are that difficult to guess are a testament to Edgerton’s power as a storyteller; not knowing what we’re really looking at is totally unnerving, and makes for a unique cinematic experience.
We won’t spoil where exactly the film goes – because that’s where the real thrill lies. But there is so much to enjoy about The Gift, which keeps on giving, and giving, and giving, until you think it can’t possible give anymore. There’s a shift, a shift you won’t see coming even if you know there’s a shift ahead, and it will rock you. It subverts all the expectations one enters a stalker thriller with and turns them completely inside out. We may be taken down a sinister, unsettling path, but there’s an unwavering empathy here, an understanding of humanity and the complex darkness that lies beneath the surface.
The Gift breathes new life into the thriller genre, simultaneously demonstrating respect for the audience and self-awareness of its every component. If the tight script and solid directing from Edgerton wasn’t enough to sell you, the performances from the three leads are wholly convincing and thoroughly compelling. Bateman may be known for playing the funnyman, but here, his most grating sensibilities are perfectly utilized, and boy, is it easy to hate him. While The Gift could go the easy route and put him in the shoes of a schmuck-y everyman, the film smartly leans into his ability to subtly embody the biggest jerk in the room – and it pays off. Watching him slowly become unhinged is made all the richer by this choice, and when played opposite Hall’s kind-hearted Robyn and Edgerton’s perplexing Gordo, it’s messed-up magic. In the end, you may not love where the film goes, but you’ll almost certainly appreciate the road it took to get there.
