Disc Reviews

The Gift Review

4th Dec 2015

Joel Edgerton astonishes with his smart, restrained and thoroughly well acted debut movie as a director.

Married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) have newly relocated, ready to restart their lives, and with a promising set of career moves ahead of Simon when they run into Gordon (Edgerton), someone from Simon’s school years.

After a slightly unsure recognition, Simon and Robyn agree to catch up with “Gordo.”

Like any decent thriller with well crafted drama, all is very much not as it may seem as Gordo soon starts to come round uninvited, and indeed presents them with a gift.

Edgerton has just the right amount of uncertainty about his character for you to be lured down the path the film plots out. Soon Gordo looms over the plot like a dark shadow, forcing the couple to come to terms with the past and how then to deal with what they may perceive as a threat.

Bateman, hands down, steals the show. You can clearly see why he was picked for the role as it really requires an awful amount of subtlety to get the part right and, frankly, Bateman is a master at subtle performances that deliver a very strong impact. This is a career highlight, despite being in a fairly small film, but one that was well regarded on its release. The Gift deserves a much wider audience and could very well even gain a cult audience down the years as it’s strong cast gain further exposure down the years. But the real surprise is Edgerton as director. This could perhaps be a side to his talents that are well worth staying in tune with. His writing credentials are already on the up, but as a director too it is worth keeping posted and up to date about what he does next. If you have even remotely heard of The Gift and are slightly curious, or even have a friend this festive period who may be interested, we urge you to open that box and see what is inside.