Taglines: The sins of the past will become your present.
A married couple, Simon and Robyn Callum, relocate from Chicago to a Los Angeles suburb after Simon takes a new job. While out shopping, they run into Gordon “Gordo” Moseley, Simon’s former high school classmate. Gordo begins dropping in unannounced, and delivering gifts including koi for their pond. He makes Simon uncomfortable, but Robyn sees no problem.
Gordo invites the couple to his large and elegant home. He receives a phone call and leaves abruptly; when he returns, Simon tells him to stay away from his family. The next day, Robyn finds the koi dead and their dog missing. Simon drives to Gordo’s house to confront him, but discovers it is not actually his home. In the days following, Robyn suspects she is not alone in the house while Simon is at work. Unable to sleep, she steals prescription pills from her neighbor and one morning faints.
The dog returns, and Robyn receives a letter from Gordo apologizing. She is puzzled by Gordo writing that he is “willing to let bygones be bygones”; Simon says he does not know what it refers to. He refuses to make peace with Gordo, and tells Robyn her pills are making her paranoid.
Robyn becomes pregnant. At her baby shower, Simon’s sister tells her that, at school, Simon and his friend Greg reported that Gordo was being molested. Gordo was bullied afterwards and had to transfer. Robyn finds Greg, who reveals that the molestation story was fabricated by Simon, who was a bully in school; as a result of the story, Gordo’s father thought he was homosexual and nearly killed him. Robyn searches Simon’s home office and discovers that he has run background checks on Gordo and someone named Danny McDonald.
The Gift is an American-Australian psychological thriller film written, produced, and directed by Joel Edgerton, making his directorial debut. The film stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as a couple intimidated by a figure from their past played by Edgerton. It was released in the United States on August 7, 2015, by STX Entertainment.
The Gift
Directed by: Joel Edgerton
Starring: Busy Philipps, Joel Edgerton, Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Katie Aselton, Allison Tolman, Susan May Pratt, Felicity Price
Screenplay by: Joel Edgerton
Production Design by: Richard Sherman
Cinematography byB Eduard Grau
Film Editing by: Matt Chesse, Luke Doolan
Costume Design by: Terry Anderson
Set Decoration by: Matthew Flood Ferguson
Art Direction by: Lorin Flemming
Music by: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Studio: STX Entertainment
Release Date: August 7, 2015
Visits: 59
