The Gift Movie Poster Image

The Gift

age 16+
(i)

 

New twist on familiar thriller setup has tension, swearing.
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  • Review Date: August 7, 2015
  • Rated: R
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Release Year: 2015
  • Running Time: 108 minutes

The Gift gallery

What parents need to know

Positive messages

Presents a very vivid (and rather nasty) view of bullying and the long-term hurt it can cause.

Positive role models

Both of the main male characters resort to underhanded, sometimes cruel behavior to get what they want. The main female character is kind-hearted but not particularly strong.

Violence

Brief fight between two men. A woman slaps a man. A brief jump-scare. Arguing. Dead fish in koi pond.

Sex

Husband and wife kiss. Brief sexual references/innuendo.

Language

Several uses of "f--k," plus "motherf----r," "a--hole," "s--t," "son of a bitch," and "idiot."

Consumerism

A character frequently drinks Gatorade after running. Heineken and Pabst Blue Ribbon beers also shown.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

The wife deals with a former drug addiction; she steals prescription pills, hides them, and takes one. Frequent social or background drinking by adults. Characters sometimes seem a bit drunk.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Gift is a thriller that offers a new twist on the frequently used "psychotic intruder" formula (The Boy Next Door, etc.). While there's plenty of tension, violence is limited to a brief fight, a slap, arguing, dead fish in a pond, and one quick jump-scare. Frequent strong language includes several uses of "f--k," "a--hole," "bitch," and "s--t." A husband and wife kiss and touch, and there are some brief sexual innuendoes/references. Characters drink fairly frequently, but always in social occasions (twice, it seems like people have had a bit too much). Reference is made to a character's former drug problems; she steals and takes a prescription pill from a neighbor. The movie addresses bullying and its long-term impact.

What's the story?

Simon (Jason Bateman) has a good life. He's just landed a fancy new job and bought a new house with his wife, Robyn (Rebecca Hall); they hope to have a baby, though Robyn has already had one miscarriage. While shopping, they run into an old classmate of Simon's, the slightly strange Gordon "Gordo" Mosley (Joel Edgerton). Gordo begins showing up and offering gifts, making attempts at friendship, but his presence gives Simon the creeps. After Gordo is caught in a lie, Simon tries to break it off with him. But Robyn learns that something terrible happened between the two men during high school, and that things aren't as they seem.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Making his feature directing debut, Edgerton takes the old thriller formula about a creepy, psychotic intruder and turns it upside down, giving it real-world weight and consequence. As the movie goes along, it hits all the expected beats, and Edgerton gets viewers thinking: Why won't this creepy guy leave this nice couple alone? But then, via some subtly skilled strokes, you start to think that maybe the nice couple isn't so nice, and maybe the creepy guy isn't so bad.

It's a welcome effort from Edgerton, who's part of an Australian film collective that routinely makes intelligent, compelling films (Animal Kingdom, Wish You Were Here, etc.), largely in the crime genre; Edgerton has already worked on several screenplays (The Square, The Rover) and short films. As with the others, THE GIFT peers a little closer at a familiar genre, asking smart questions about what makes it human.

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about The Gift's violence. How strong is the violence here compared to what you've seen in other, similar thrillers? How does their impact compare? Do movies have to have moments of actual violence in order to be scary? Why or why not?

  • Do you think this movie improves on a familiar formula? Is it always possible to improve on stories that have seemingly already been done?

  • How much drinking is shown? Does it appear to be social, for pleasure, or for other reasons? What about the wife's pill-taking? What are the consequences? Are they realistic?

  • What does this movie have to say about bullying? Is the bully dealt with in a way that seems reasonable or fair?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:August 7, 2015
DVD release date:October 27, 2015
Cast:Joel Edgerton, Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall
Director:Joel Edgerton
Studio:STX Entertainment
Genre:Thriller
Run time:108 minutes
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:language

This review of The Gift was written by

Jeffrey M. Anderson
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

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Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Adult Written byemmaquee September 1, 2015
age 18+
Firstly, I left the cinema disappointed, disturbed and felt pretty horrible. The movie trailer made this move seem like a thriller, it seemed exciting and an "edge of your seat" kind of movie. And to an extent it was but I was very misled. I was excited to see this movie but I wish I had never seen it and spent my money on it. The idea of the movie is good and clever but the way they chose to carry it out disturbed me. Not one character in the movie ends up happy, everyone ends up worse off than they started. Every time a complication arose, it was never resolved and left you feeling awful. The biggest disappointment for me was that I didn't know the core plot twist would be so disturbing. I would not have seen this movie if I knew that the climax of the film was an innocent woman being drugged and raped. Like I said, no complications are resolved in this movie. We don't find out who the real father of the baby is, we don't know if she finds out the truth, we don't know if they get divorced. All we know is that the sick sociopath gets what he wants. There is nothing positive about this movie. To me, that is not a film worth watching.
What other families should know
Too much swearing
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Teen, 15 years old Written bythemovieenthusiast August 10, 2015
age 16+

Excellent movie! Maybe not for kids...

I personally loved the movie and thought it was very well done. There are some disturbing scenes, none of them are very graphic but still it can be scary. I'm turning 16 in a couple of months and I've always been mature for my age, and I found it a little disturbing myself. (SPOILERish) it deals with bullying and slight homosexuality (the cause of the bullying) and there is one scene at the end that made me leave the theater feeling like I was going to throw up. It was such an awful thing, and can trigger some horrible memories for some who have gone through this particular traumatic event. (ACTUAL SPOILERS) if the above made you concerned and needing to know what exactly happens read on... There was a rape scene of sorts, it was more implied or questionable, but it was still disturbing to see the build up of possible rape, especially the situation in which it was shown. The scene is not graphic, because the point of it is to be left to the viewers' mind as to weather or not the character was raped, but its very very creepy to see it. (End of major spoilers) The movie is suspenseful, slightly disturbing at points, but there is very little violence and the main characters are trying to get pregnant so there is some mention of sex, but not any more than a pg-13 movie would. The f word is used some, but not a lot. There are about three major pop-outs to worry about, but the overall film is pretty suspenseful. Wonderful film, I enjoyed it very much, and I think mature 15 year olds and older will too!
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Teen, 14 years old Written byAlsatian August 15, 2015
age 15+

Very good film. Unexpected.

Most thriller/horror movies are very cliche and are about the same thing over and over again, whether that be ghosts, poltergeists, vampires, zombies and so on. This movie, however, has nothing to do with any of the over used effects we label as 'scary' This is perfect if you're looking for a change of story line. The movie is mostly based on two men named Gordon and Simon, two men that used to go to Highschool together and when Simon moved to California, the two had reunited. But everyday, Gordon left gifts at their doorstep to welcome them to their new home. But there are a turn of events later on in the film. In this film, you're going to expect scenes of Violence, Adults drinking (and getting drunk at some point) and bad language. You'll also see a married couple kissing and you'll also hear some inappropriate jokes. This is a film I have enjoyed and I never really watch horror movies!
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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