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The Gift Keeps On Giving

"The Gift" sneaked into theaters this past weekend and took audiences by surprise - it's a smart, subtle, unsettling thriller that relies on crafty character development rather than a surfeit of plot to deliver its shocks.  Actor Joel Edgerton ("The Great Gatsby") wrote, directed, and co-stars in the film, and with this creative debut he demonstrates an admirable sense of pacing and restraint that earns every creepy payoff in the film's third act.  There's an inevitable twist at the end, but "The Gift" doesn't just barrel along toward the big reveal.  Rather, it takes time along the way to build in a series of smaller shifts and switchbacks that will have viewers questioning their assumptions and shifting their perspectives as each new piece of info is revealed.

The film's story concerns a successful young couple - Simon Callen (Jason Bateman) and his wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) - who have just settled in at their new house in the picturesque hills outside Los Angeles.  They are out furniture shopping when Simon is approached by a man who identifies himself as his former high school classmate Gordon, or, as Simon eventually recalls, "Gordo".  A polite conversation ensues and the "let's exchange numbers" niceties are observed, but it's clear that the couple expects matters to end there.  So it's a surprise when Gordo starts leaving giftwrapped "welcome" packages on their doorstep then dropping by unannounced, attempting to be ingratiating.  Robyn is friendly and initially unconcerned, even though Gordo's visits increasingly occur while Simon is at work and she's on her own at home.  Simon is less accommodating.  He shares that "Gordo the Weirdo" was a high school outcast, and he thinks "there's something off about the guy".  But they soldier on through an escalating onslaught of gifts and a couple of awkward dinners before circumstances force them to really begin questioning Gordo's situation and intentions.  He hasn't been entirely forthcoming, he's starting to seem dangerous, and he's clearly fixated on them...but why?

"The Gift" plays on several different levels.  It's got the framework of a classic thriller with a handful of lurid elements to keep things modern.  It's also a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of social connections and exchanges, and how we're conditioned to navigate life.  The first third of the story focuses on the increasingly uncomfortable interactions between the Callens and Gordo, and before the film's tone becomes explicitly threatening it's interesting to contemplate the implicit threat of disruptions to one's social fabric.  Gordo is a rogue element in the balanced, picture-perfect life that the Callens are trying to create for themselves, and the question of how to handle him reveals hints of the uneasily buried strife that exists between the couple.  How each reacts to the escalating stress of their situation also reveals unexpected elements of their characters.  These details are doled out effectively as the story takes a turn into mystery-solving territory, and we learn more about Simon and Gordo's history together.  But what's the end game here?  You'll never guess.

Joel Edgerton's reigned-in sense of menace, which worked so well in his turn as Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", is again a key in his performance here.  It is impressive how effortlessly he is able to tune that performance, while simultaneously serving as director.  And notice the smart casting of Jason Bateman in the role of Simon, the likeable upwardly-mobile businessman who seems to sail effortlessly through life, with a great job, a beautiful wife, and a picture-perfect home: the American Dream.  Viewers have watched Mr. Bateman grow up playing the friendly, straight-up everyman, and it's interesting to see how cannily Mr. Edgerton as director plays with those audience perceptions, as events unfold and Mr. Bateman's Simon reveals an unexpected edge.

"The Gift" is a welcome surprise all around, in the creepy audacity of its storyline, the disciplined buildup of menace, and the luxury of its character-driven narrative.  There are one or two points where the momentum lags and a cut or two might have been in order. But on the whole it's impressive, and a viewing - or two - will leave you with more to think about than the average summer movie fare.