The Gift
Movie review by Hridayesh Thapa
Rating: ***1/2
This one is a creepy, slow cooked delicious thriller that will keep you guessing all the time. ‘The Gift’ is director Joel Edgerton’s debut movie written by him and what an amazing debut it is. Joel is known for his roles in films like ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, ‘The Great Gatsby’ and more recently in ‘Exodus: Gods vs Kings’.
The movie is setup in a suburban house where a couple has recently moved in. An earnest stranger starts popping up in their lives, and turns out to be a classmate of the husband. The wife finds him friendly whereas the husband doubts his motives.
The movie will remind you of the last years’ superb psychological thriller ‘Gone Girl’. Like that movie this one has a lot of shades in every character which gives depth to story. There are multiple layers with pertinent questions about relationships in today’s times.
The treatment is fantastic as in a thriller one is more focused on the presentation than on the content. The scenes are almost without any background score, that actually scales up the real feel as you see it as a day to day thing of any household. There are a few jump off the seat moments but that is not the strengths of the movie.
The camera angles are superb and lighting captures the mood the movie perfectly.
Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall play the couple and are perfect in their characters. Joel Edgerton himself as ‘Gordo the weirdo’ is impressive. Your mind will be played on thinking about the ulterior motives of each character.
Watch it if you like psychological thrillers.
Is it worth achieving Blu-ray or standard structure? appreciate informed answers cheers! We were both thrown via the motorbike about fifteen metre distances. A dirty rag finds its distance to Olaf’s derive.