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Saturday, August 8, 2015

"The Gift"


Great psychological thrillers ("Black Swan," "Shutter Island") are hard to come by these days.  So when one comes along, it knocks your socks off. 

Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall, "Transcendence," "Iron Man 3," "The Town") are a married couple recently moved to Los Angeles from Chicago for a new start.  One day they run into an old high school friend of Simon, Gordo (Joel Edgerton, "The Great Gatsby").  Soon Gordo begins to get obsessed with the couple, starting with an innocuous gift at the front door step.  But the gifts keep on coming and things get weirder.  It's no slasher, but you'd feel a sense of dread creeping up even when you don't see him onscreen. 

As the movie progresses, Robyn discovers an unsavory history between Gordo and her husband.  And that her husband may not be the Mr. Nice Guy she's married to.  As they say, revenge is best served cold.  Go in cold; steer clear of anything resembling spoilers.  

Along the lines of the crazy sick twist in "Old Boy," prepare for a wicked ending that will haunt your mind.