The Gift (2015) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 10

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I’m not just going to be ignored! Hey, yes you!!

The Gift turns out to be a surprising and tense thriller as a couple is stalked by a lone individual. But the film takes a twist from the standard formula, moving into new and exciting territory.

Before Viewing

In this unsettling trailer, a couple runs into an old friend of the husband’s who strikes up a friendship with them. He comes over and hangs out a couple of times. But soon he’s showing up at odd hours and leaving strange packages on the front stoop. When the husband says he can’t hang out with them any longer, he becomes very upset. Like killing your pet fish and throwing a brick through your plate glass window, upset. It looks like this friendship will be The Gift that keeps on giving: pain and heartache.

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

Security sales rep Simon Callem (Jason Bateman) and his architect wife, Robyn (Rebecca Hall), relocate from Chicago to Los Angeles for Simon’s work. While purchasing furniture at the local home store, they run into Gordo (Joel Edgerton), who reminds Simon that they used to go to school together. Later, a bottle of wine shows up on the Callem’s front porch with a welcome note from Gordo. Gordo then shows up unannounced the next day, startling Robyn, who, being polite, invites him in and asks him to stay for dinner. They have a mostly pleasant evening, but find Gordo a bit socially awkward. Joel makes fun of him after he leaves, relieved they don’t have to see him again.

Simon brings Robyn to a work party where they meet Kevin (Tim Griffin) and his wife, Duffy (Busy Philipps). Someone asks about kids, which makes Robyn uncomfortable, having previously lost an infant during delivery, but Simon insists they’re continuing to try. They return home to find another gift from Gordo, the small pond on their porch stocked with koi. Simon remembers they used to call him Weirdo Gordo, and writes that on their whiteboard on the refrigerator. When Gordo stops by unexpectedly again the next day to see if Robyn needs any help, he notices the note and leaves hurriedly. Simon and Robyn relate this bizarre one-sided relationship with Kevin and Duffy at dinner one night, which prompts caution, but also comments about what the worst thing that could happen might be.

After getting invited to dinner at Gordo’s mansion with another couple (who Gordo says canceled at the last moment), Simon has had enough. He tells Gordo plainly that they do not want him coming around any longer, and they don’t wish to be friends. The next day, Robyn returns from a jog to find their fish dead and their dog, Jangles, missing. They report the incident to the cops, especially after stopping by Gordo’s house and finding out it belongs to his employer. Robyn steals some pills from Lucy (Allison Tolman), their next-door neighbor, to help her sleep due to all the stress and anxiety. Jangles returns home coincidentally when a final note from Gordo arrives apologizing several times and telling Simon he wishes he could let “bygones be bygones.”

Simon meets with the owners of the security firm he works at about a promotion, finding out that the only other applicant is Danny (PJ Byrne), an awkward guy that Simon met at a work party once. Robyn’s anxiety increases when she hears noises around the house and sees water spigots running for no reason. She has a panic attack and faints one day, awakening the next morning to an upset Simon who confronts her about her pill use. He had hoped they had left that problem in Chicago. She asks him what “bygones” means in Gordo’s note, but he says he doesn’t know and then gets upset when she continues pushing the issue.

At Christmas, she reveals to Simon she’s pregnant. At the baby shower, Joan (Katie Aselton), Simon’s sister, reveals that in high school, Simon had discovered Gordo being molested by another man in a car, which ruined Gordo’s teen life, causing his father to abuse him. Greg (David Denman), another old high school friend, confirms to Robyn that the story was a lie and that Simon made it all up. Robyn confronts her husband, calling him a bully. Unrepentant, Simon argues with her and gets slapped for his behavior. He agrees to visit with Gordo to apologize, but it becomes a physical altercation and a non-apology apology. Simon then lies to Robyn about that encounter.

Simon gets the promotion at work, but has his house vandalized by Danny, who accuses Simon of spreading lies about him, which got him fired. The shock and stress of the encounter sends Robyn into labor, which results in a beautiful baby boy. Kevin calls Simon to inform him that, after looking into Danny’s claims, the company has fired Simon. Robyn tells Simon she doesn’t want to go home with him. Returning home, Simon finds one last gift, a baby seat which also contains a key to his house, a CD with a private conversation between Simon and Robyn discussing Gordo, and a DVD showing Gordo in their house wearing a creepy monkey mask and rubbing on an unconscious Robyn before cutting to static. Returning to the hospital, Simon chases Gordo, who escapes and then calls him, telling Simon that he may or may not be the father. Simon is left shaken to his core, with no job, no wife, and no way of knowing.

“Just to say that the bad things, they can be a gift.” – Gordo

Just what if The Gift? As I was looking for a film from 2015 to add to this week’s list of anniversary films (celebrating its 10th anniversary), I saw this title, and immediately thought it was the Sam Raimi supernatural film of the same name. Turns out, that was incorrect. Raimi’s film, with Cate Blanchett, was released 15 years prior in 2000. What I found out about this version of The Gift surprised me. It was written, produced, and directed by Joel Edgerton, with him also portraying the antagonist of the film. I first heard of Edgerton at the turn of the century when he was cast as young Owen Lars for the second Star Wars prequel, Attack of the Clones. I had seen him in a couple of films since then, including the comedic action film Smokin’ Aces and the sci-fi horror prequel, The Thing (2011). I had no idea that he was also talented in these other areas of production. This was his first feature-length film that he has directed, and it’s an amazingly tense and honest assessment of trauma and the power of ideas.

Unlike any of the other anniversary films this week (The Phantom of the Opera – 1925, The Devil’s Rain – 1975, The Stuff – 1985, In the Mouth of Madness – 1995, and Saw II – 2005), or any of the other films this month, The Gift is not a horror film about death and killers. Instead, it’s a gripping thriller showing just how easily the order in one’s life can turn to chaos. The main idea behind the film is not new. There have been dozens of films about individuals wreaking havoc on couples, families, and individuals, including Lakeview Terrace, Pacific Heights, Cape Fear (both in 1962, 1991, and an upcoming television series), and Single White Female. The films fall into the psychological thriller (sometimes referred to as psychological horror) genre, and are less about blood and guts, and deal more with the terror that occurs when social norms are broken down and the boundaries between individuals are disrupted. This can be due to criminal enterprises, psychologically unhinged individuals, or, as in this case, a character that was traumatized during their formative years.

What makes The Gift keep on giving is the idea that none of the characters are blameless. Often, these types of stories deal with a couple (or a person) that has their life tromped on by a stranger or neighbor, with no provocation whatsoever. Michael Keaton’s grifter character just happens to move into the house rented by Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith. Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington just happen to move next door to a less-than-temperate LAPD officer played by Samuel L. Jackson. The Gift seems to start that way. A man claiming to be a person from high school reintroduces himself after 20 years. The audience has no way of knowing if this is true, but it begins to play out as if Gordo is a person that maybe is fixated on Simon, even though they were never friends. Gordo appears to be seeking some kind of revenge, but the motives are unclear. Is he some unhinged psychopath? An ex-soldier with PTSD who decides to take his anger out on Simon and his wife? A man who’s just sexually attracted to Robyn, who is trying to lie his way into their lives? These are all true, but there’s also a rather chilling reveal that switches the protagonist and antagonist of the film mid-way through. Simon is not the nice and laidback guy he appears to be. He’s an unrepentant bully who destroyed a person’s life and continues to do so.

In the genre of revenge films, the story usually follows the person who was wronged as they go about their life, plotting to get the person who wronged them back. These types of films are often action-oriented films like John Wick or Kill Bill, but can also be thrillers like the aforementioned Cape Fear or horror films like Carrie and Last House on the Left. In a classical version of this story, the film would follow Gordo tracking down Simon and his wife, getting to know them, and then exacting his revenge for the way he was treated. Instead, Edgerton twists the formula, portraying Simon as an innocent character who is at the brunt of Gordo’s anger for an unknown reason. The shock to the audience comes when they realize that Simon was just a bully who acted poorly against Gordo in high school. His lies destroyed Gordo’s social life, his family life, and his sense of self. But even beyond that, Simon doesn’t have any remorse for his actions, continuing to bully Gordo and blaming the other for not being able to let go of the past. Simon is the true sociopath here, who gets everything he deserves in losing his job, his family, and potentially his sanity.

While the horror of The Gift comes from the unknown of what Gordo is planning to do to the family, there are also a few moments to get your blood flowing. Most viewers probably get the sense that this guy is dangerous, coming around after Simon has gone to work and taking advantage of Robyn’s generous nature. Who isn’t screaming at her for letting this stranger have a tour of the house? Seriously! Even when he’s not coming around, Gordo’s still at the house, turning on faucets and being noisy enough to continue making Robyn paranoid. But there are two moments within five minutes of each other that really get the viewer’s heart racing. They are both framed to make audiences anticipate something coming, but Edgerton performs the reveals in unique ways that still startle. The first is when Robyn hears something outside and checks the sliding door. There is a lot of negative space on the left to anticipate something appearing there from offscreen. Instead, the dog jumps up towards her from the right, startling Robyn as well as the audience. Shortly after that, she’s taking a shower and sees something through the steamed-up glass. The camera holds for a while as the viewer tries to make out what we’re seeing. A blurry shape moves across the frame. As she wipes her hand across the glass to clear the condensation, Edgerton composites or edits in a close-up of Gordo inches from the glass, smash cutting to Robyn waking from a dream. Scary, but also showing where Robyn’s mind is going.

The end of the film is great, allowing Gordo to have his comeuppance over Simon by driving a wedge between him and his wife. The fact that neither Simon nor the audience really knows whether Gordo is responsible for Robyn’s pregnancy is a great element. Since it’s been stated that the Callems are trying to get pregnant, there’s a possibility the baby is Simon’s. But the fact that he’ll never know, and probably not get the chance to know with Robyn kicking him out, is so karmically perfect. The basic lesson to be learned is, don’t be a bully. This concludes the anniversary week of horror films on 31 Days of Horror. Stay tuned tomorrow for another sci-fi/horror mashup on a Sci-Fi Saturdays article, and more scary films all month long.

Assorted Musings

• After the film, a question arises about why didn’t Simon, an employee at a security firm decide to get some kind of alarm or camera system installed at his house? Obviously, that would go against the story being told, but it seems like an obvious way to prove what’s happening.