Married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) have moved to LA with plans to make a family. After a short time home, they bump into a figure from Simon's past, Gordo (Joel Edgerton).
Despite his initial friendliness, the couple soon realise that nothing is as it seems...
I cannot wait until somebody writes an exhaustive history and analysis of the films produced by Blumhouse. They have produced a lot of movies, and I really appreciate the diversity of their output - from franchises like Paranormal Activity and The Purge, to more singular films like Get Out and The Gift. The entrenched economy of their budgets and the free-reign given to filmmakers has been a boon for genre cinema, and post-pandemic, might be the model for a re-structuring of the industry.
The Gift is one of the best horror movies I have seen recently, and it felt fitting to post this review in October.
So many movies try to horrify by being visually transgressive. The Gift keeps all of its horrors offscreen, but uses that offscreen space to force the viewers to question what those horrors could be.
It is almost like the Schrodinger's Cat of horror, where assumptions are undermined at every turn. Rather than reveal information, the film holds back from anything definitive, forcing the protagonists and the viewers to constantly wrestle with what the truth really is.
One of the most unsettling moments of the movie is when Robyn asks her dog 'Where did you go'. The camera tracks slowly in on the animal's passive face. It is not that impressive to describe, but the whole movie is built on moments like this, where the filmmakers let the camera sit and force the viewer to wrestle with new context (which might be a lie).
This movie plays into a quality that I have noticed with Jason Bateman. It is something I picked up in Arrested Development, which is his ability to push the sincerity when in a lie. There is something so disquieting about how easily he can do that made for some great laughs in that show. Here, it is pushed to 11 and it is unsettling. Even before we learn too much about him, there is this forcefulness to his charm and intensity to his gaze that put me on edge. It took me until after the movie to realise that he was reminding me of someone I know who always publicly presented in the same way.
Bateman is breath-taking in the movie.
Rebecca Hall is like a great utility player. She delivers great performances, but she shows up in so many movies where I almost forget about her. She is so adaptable that I buy her in so many roles. Watching this movie made me want to go back re-watch some of her other movies. She brings a frailty and warmth that makes Robyn's easy trust believable.
As the gift-giver, Joel Edgerton is like the movie - he comes across like a blank slate. He is awkward and I did feel a certain empathy for him, even before we learn what happened to him, but there is a opacity to his face which adds to the movie's mysteries.
I have been meaning to watch The Gift for years, and I should have watched it sooner. This movie is great.
No comments:
Post a Comment