The Gift is a psychological thriller film directed and written by Joel Edgerton, who also stars as "Wierdo" Gordo, a socially awkward man who nonetheless welcomes two new neighbors with unrelenting generosity; he gives them gifts, has them over for dinner. Robyn (played by Rebecca Hall) takes a liking to Gordo, able to look past his stuttering nature, whilst her husband Simon (played by Jason Bateman), who it turns out was a student of the same high school as him, senses a twinge in his mannerisms that indicates a strange fascination in them, which confuses him and puts him off.

However, as Gordo takes other numerous actions that jaywalk through their stable living and raises questions about his mental stability, we become more aware of some sort of dark evil lurking somewhere within the screen.

What's great about the film is its implications; aside from one or two jumpscares, the movie puts a lot of effort in its buildup not just by giving us a handful of suspenseful, tense moments, but also giving . Every scene feels as though there's some sort of dark underbelly standing behind the backdrop, and as the movie progresses the layers peel away one by one, and we see a lot more of the film's true heart and nature. The dialogue itself is subtle in that we get a good grip on the personalities of each character, but word seems to have weight to it spawning from all the corruption that sits behind the homely design, and tugs a lot of wires in our mind that forebodes the darkness we're about to witness. There's a complexity to the story and writing that gives the film a somewhat kaleidoscopic quality, as the focus and character's true colors are always shifting and changing, until the very end where it's all tied together with a bright red ribbon.

Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall are very good at portraying the preyed couple, but the actor who really steals the show is Joel Edgerton. For such a friendly face he has, it also feels like some dark monument any time he's onscreen. With every scene he's in, all focus goes straight towards him, and the instabilities rattling within his character fill the screen. We can tell that something big has happened to him; we're not sure yet until it's revealed, but until then it only adds to the shaky tone that ties the movie together, and we're both disturbed by his actions and fascinated by his elusive past.

Long story short, The Gift is an elegant, yet gritty thriller with a creative style on the stalker genre, fitted with fine performances and writing that puts a knife to the character's back the entire way through.

I give The Gift 8.5 Applejacks out of 10.

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