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Parents' Guide to

The Gift

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

New twist on familiar thriller setup has tension, swearing.

Movie R 2015 108 minutes
The Gift Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 5 parent reviews

sah777
sah777 Parent of 10-year-old
October 10, 2019
age 18+

Creepy thriller best avoided...

Features creepy evil adult revenge for childhood bullying. Discusses/shows heavy themes: child molestation, child attempted murder and rape as revenge. Best avoided.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Keegs M.
Keegs M. Parent of 5 and 10-year-old
February 28, 2016
age 14+

Thriller, The Gift, Chills But A Little Dissapointing

The Gift Is About A Husband & Wife Who Moved From Chicago To LA, and Meet A Childhood Friend. After Being A Little Too Clingy, He Begins To Do Disturbing Things To The Household. This Movie Is A Little Disappointing, With Few Jump Scares. Not To Say It Wasn't Enjoyable, It Was Just A While To Lift Off And It Was A Little Original. The Ending Was Sudden, And It Isn't A Movie I Would Really Recommend To Friends/Family.
See all 5 parent reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (11 ):

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.

Talk to Your Kids 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?

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