The Gift Movie Review and Full Story

The Gift Movie

The Gift Movie Review and Full Story

A married couple, Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn Callum (Rebecca Hall), are living what appears to be a picture-perfect life. They relocate from Chicago to a suburban Los Angeles neighborhood after Simon finds a new job outside the city. While out buying supplies for their new home, they run into Gordon "Gordo" Moseley (Joel Edgerton), a former high school classmate of Simon's who Simon claims to have completely forgotten about. Soon after, he begins dropping in unannounced, usually when Simon is at work, and sends many gifts including koi fish for Robyn's empty pond. He is initially kind to the couple, but Simon feels uncomfortable since he remembers Gordo as "Gordo the Weirdo" from high school. When he drops by one morning, Robyn invites Gordo in and shows him around their new home, including a spare room for a child that Robyn miscarried back in Chicago. The following night, Gordo invites Simon and Robyn to dinner at his large and elegant home. Minutes after they arrive, he receives a mysterious phone call from "work" and leaves suddenly, giving the couple time to mock Gordo and explore the house. They find a closet full of women's clothes and a children's bedroom despite Gordo telling them he doesn't have a family. When he returns and Simon confronts him, Gordo tells them it was actually his wife on the phone; she has recently divorced him and taken off with both his children. Simon finds his story misleading and he tells Robyn to wait in the car while he ends their friendship.

 The next day, Robyn returns home from a run to find the fish in the pond are dead and their dog missing. Simon immediately suspects Gordo and drives to his house to confront him only to find out that it was not Gordo's home. They involve the police, who tell them that without evidence, the most they can do is question Gordo and doing so would tip him off about their suspicions. In the days that follow while working from home, Robyn begins to suspect that she is not alone in the house after hearing noises and finding the kitchen tap turned on. She also has trouble sleeping and takes some stolen prescription pills that she hides from Simon. One morning, she becomes so frightened that she collapses.
Simon finds the hidden pills and questions Robyn about them, thinking that she has relapsed and is taking drugs again, as she had when they were in Chicago to ease her grief. They argue and Robyn is hurt that he doesn't believe she is being watched by Gordo and believes instead that it is all in her head. Simon is rewarded with a promotion as his one competitor for the job, Danny McDonald (P.J. Byrne), was disqualified after some troubling information is revealed from Danny's previous job. Back at home, the couple's dog unexpectedly returns one night and Simon believes Gordo is messing with them. They then receive a letter from Gordo stating that he is sorry to have bothered them and writes that he was willing to "let bygones be bygones," which is directed at Simon. Robyn questions what he means by it but Simon acts baffled by the statement. Time passes and they learn to move on, during which time Robyn reveals that she is pregnant again. However, Robyn is still troubled by Gordo's last letter and wants to know what "bygones" Gordo was referring to.