by: JESSICA COX/Staff Writer
Running into old friends from high school can be pleasant, or sometimes awkward.
“The Gift” tells the story of the latter, shocking audiences with the events that unfold.
The film begins as married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) move into their new home. While out shopping for furniture, they run into Gordo (Joel Edgerton), who claims he knows Simon. At first, Simon has no idea who this Gordo is, until he is reminded that they went to the same high school more than 20 years ago. Feeling awkward for not remembering, Simon jots down Gordo’s phone number, telling him that they’ll have to catch up sometime.
The next day, out of nowhere, a gift shows up at their doorstep with a note attached. The note reads: “Welcome home 🙂 -Gordo.” The couple feels uncomfortable about this, because they do not remember giving Gordo their address. These random gifts continue throughout the movie.
Gordo unsuspectedly shows up at the house multiple times while Robyn is home alone. Robyn doesn’t think anything of it. In fact, she feels bad for Gordo. But her husband is convinced that Gordo is interested in her.
Simon shares with his wife that he thought Gordo was strange in high school. Still, they give him the benefit of the doubt and try to get to know him better.
After spending time with Gordo on more than one occasion, Simon can’t shake the uneasy feeling he has. He tells Gordo of how he feels uncomfortable, and asks if he would not come see them anymore.
A few days later, a letter from Gordo comes in the mail. In this letter, Gordo explains how sorry he is to see the friendship go, and he apologizes for making them feel uncomfortable. Closing the letter, there is a note addressed specifically to Simon. It reads: “After all these years, I was willing to let bygones be bygones.”
Robyn questions her husband about the meaning behind this, but he claims he does not know. Unable to get answers out of him, Robyn does some digging of her own, trying to discover what happened between Simon and Gordo when they were in high school.
She discovers some disturbing secrets that make her question whether she really knows the man she married. Her obsession for information gets both of them into trouble as she aggravates the events of Gordo’s past.
The film ends with unexpected twists that leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. I had very high expectations when going to see this movie. Although “The Gift” did have many twists and turns, there were also many moments where the storyline lulled. It was not as exciting of a movie as I had hoped for, but still a very good watch. I would rate “The Gift” as a 3 out of 5 stars.
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