The Gift
released 2015
www.ink2quill.com

”The Gift” is an American psychological thriller written produced and directed by Joel Edgerton. It´s his directorial debut and stars Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Tim Griffin, Allison Tolman, Beau Knapp, P.J. Byrne, David Denman, Busy Philips, Wendell Pierce, Katie Aselton, Dylan Samuelson and Adam Lazarre-White. The story was inspired from many sources including the works of Alfred Hitchcock, the film ”Fatal Attraction” and the 2005 film ”Cache´ ” by Michael Haneke and the ”Vengeance Trilogy” by Park Chanwook. The music was done by Danny Bensi and Saunder Juriaans. This movie will spook you out then make your blood boil with its original storyline.

The Gift IMDb webpage

The story begins when a seemingly happy couple move to Chicago, with everything to live for and meet someone the husband knew from the past. The husband Simon, played by Jason Bateman, pretends not to know Gordon ”Gordo” Moseley, played by Joel Edgerton, when they first meet in a home supply store.

As the story develops Gordo starts to intrude in their lives, by stopping by unannounced and giving them nice gifts. At first glance he seems obsessed with Simon´s wife. All the while Simon pretends not to understand what is going on. He makes it seem like Gordo is stalking his wife, played by Rebecca Hall, and tells her how weird Gordo was in high school. The wife suspects deception on the part of her husband and starts to dig into the mystery that is Gordo. She uncovers a horrible injustice done to Gordo in his youth that destroyed his life and nearly killed him. An injustice done by by her husband Simon on Gordo, who turned out to be a vicious bully.

This is a very good story with an ending that should have gone further. Gordo is clearly someone with nothing left to lose and sets out on a path for revenge. It´s also nice to see that Simon´s wife is a decent person who is horrified when she finds out who her husband really is.

So a nagging questions remain. Why the title? What is the gift? Is it the gifts Gordon gave to  the guilty couple or is it the child. The child being a gift you cannot ignore or return. A gift that will stay with you forever.

This is a story about the harmful consequences of bullying and the destructive effects of rumors and lies. What happened to Gordo was so unfair and the fact that nobody stood up to Simon and took the side of Gordo made things worse. This is also the story of someone who didn´t know their spouse as well as they thought they did.

I highly recommend ”The Gift” as a must see and own. It´s a good watch.

(Commentary by www.ink2quill.com )
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