The Gift (2015)

Think back to your school days. Think of anyone you might have wronged, or anyone who wronged you. It could be something small, calling you names or pushing you in the hallway; it could be something bigger like embarrassing you in front of your crush or giving you a nickname that stuck all through high school; it could be something very big, persistent bullying, violence, the sort of things that might leave a lasting scar on one's psyche. Full disclosure, right up front: I was not one of the "cool kids" in school. I wouldn't say I was bullied, but I definitely got picked on. I don't think I have any deep psychological damage, but I am a believer that every single thing that happens in a person's life will influence them, no matter how small the incident or how small the impact.

With that out of the way, this movie took my soul, chewed it up, crapped it out, and flushed it away. Based on the trailer I expected something more of a revenge thriller, a creepy stalker movie that borderlined on a horror movie with a villain that manages to keep showing up. Instead, I got a pretty complex character study whose terror comes from the total plausibility of the events.

Simon (Jason Bateman) and his wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) move from Chicago to Los Angeles for Simon's new job. Simon bumps into an old classmate, Gordon. The initial awkward meeting leads to some moments that split the difference between considerate and creepy. Gordon persists with building a friendship, but Simon blows him off. Things escalate exponentially, conflict comes from different directions, and by the end I think I had totally stopped breathing. I remember the first time I saw "The Sixth Sense", as things started to add up by the end of the movie, I felt such a rush of emotions. No one turns out to be a ghost (Sixth Sense spoiler alert!) but the last scenes of this movie made me lose my mind.

The tension in this movie was a beautiful thing. The camerawork was great, the music and sound were notable, and I even fell for one-and-a-half scares. I never flinch at movies, but one moment had me nearly bounce off the couch. Jason Bateman is a favorite of mine and it was interesting to see him veer away from comedy, and he was perfect in this. Joel Edgerton (who wrote and directed as well) nailed his role, and Rebecca Hall showed solid range.

Another thing that is worth noting is the pacing. Even though it's just 108 minutes, I felt like they packed a ton of story in without making it rushed. Characters are introduced and established, back stories are revealed, characters go through personal arcs, and finally things come to an end that is open-ended in a maddeningly, soul-crushingly, perfectly open-ended way.