Shadows on the Wall

The Gift

dir-scr Joel Edgerton
prd Jason Blum, Joel Edgerton, Rebecca Yeldham
with Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Allison Tolman, Tim Griffin, Busy Philipps, Adam Lazarre-White, Wendell Pierce, Beau Knapp, Katie Aselton, David Denman, PJ Byrne
release US/UK 7.Aug.15
15/US 1h48
The Gift

A too-generous old friend: Bateman and Hall

R E V I E W B Y R I C H C L I N E

This may look like a thriller, and often play like one, but it's actually a rather dark drama about trust and manipulation. As it digs into the characters' perceptions and motivations, the film finds plenty of opportunity to creep out the audience, including a few big jolts. But it's the slower, more introspective aspects to the story that get under the skin.

After a rough patch in their marriage, Simon and Robyn (Bateman and Hall) relocate from Chicago to Los Angeles to start over. But as they move into their gorgeous new home, Simon's school friend Gordon (Edgerton) appears, worming his way into their lives with a series of gifts. Simon is dismissive of Gordon, while Robyn tries to get to know him. With pressure at work and trying to start a family, Simon decides to break contact with Gordon. And things instantly get very strange, making Robyn wonder exactly what their past friendship was about.

As a writer-director, Edgerton does a terrific job of keeping the audience hooked, applying hints and suspicions in every scene to build a fierce sense of foreboding. The film also has a clever Fatal Attraction-style tone, which fortunately never boils over, as it were. Instead of converting into a frantic horror nightmare, the story goes deeper into its characters' personalities, offering tantalising peeks at the things everyone would prefer to keep hidden out of sight.

Bateman holds his nerve in a darkly complex role, as Simon's veneer of good-guy coolness is quietly peeled away. And Edgerton is excellent as the awkward stranger who seems to be up to something very nasty indeed. Hall's role is even more difficult, because Robyn is haunted by her own past, which only slowly reveals itself as the plot inches forward. And her interaction with the other characters (including the terrific Tolman as a friendly neighbour) makes the movie quietly gripping.

The film's pace may be slow and the narrative rather simplistic and didactic, but every scene quietly tightens the screws, setting us up for both unnervingly jumpy moments and brittle comedy, plus quite a few unpredictable revelations and plot turns. In the end, the film has some surprisingly important things to say about bullying. And it's especially refreshing to see a first-time feature filmmaker maintain such a strong sense of focus against what was surely heavy pressure from the studios to let the final act spiral into a schlocky rampage.

themes, language, violence 27.Jul.15

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

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