THE GIFT : Sunday 30th August 2015.

New South Welshman and Aussie Joel Edgerton has Written, Produced, Directed and Stars in his latest offering and his Directoral debut, 'THE GIFT' which I saw over the weekend. Released about a month ago Stateside and made for just US$5M it has so far grossed US$39M and is already garnering much critical praise for Edgerton's Writing and his Directing prowess. This is mystery thriller that delivers one or two chills as the story meanders along and unfolds at the expense of the family unit.

Starring Jason Bateman as Simon and Rebecca Hall as his wife Robyn, this upwardly mobile professional couple relocate to Los Angeles from Chicago where they find a mid-century architecturally designed home in the suburbs as they seek to re-establish their lives with new jobs, a new home, a new city and a new beginning. Having found the perfect place to settle down in the hills, they set about buying furnishings and in doing so, one day Simon is reintroduced to a long forgotten school buddy by the name of Gordon 'Gordo' Moseley (Joel Edgerton).

After exchanging some social pleasantries they agree to contact each other in due course for a long overdue catch-up . . . so much to talk about. Seems harmless enough! The next day as Simon and Robyn return home there is a bottle of red wine tied with a bow waiting for them at the front door with a note from Gordo welcoming them to their new home and wishing them well. The next day Gordo rocks up unannounced to the house when Simon is at work, and he strikes up a conversation with Robyn and provides a list of local tradespeople and contact details in the event of an emergency. How neighbourly!

By now Gordo is getting fairly regular at dropping around when Simon and Robyn least expect it, and the couple get showered with more gifts. On one occasion Robyn gives him the tour of the new home, they have tea together and chat away a few hours, and he connects up their new flat screen big screen TV. Increasingly this is pissing Simon off and he believes that Gordo has the hots for Robyn and wants to break off Gordo's increasingly persistent intervention in their lives.

As Simon strives to climb the corporate ladder at work with a pending promotion in the offing, so Robyn's life at home starts to unravel with the stresses and strains of not knowing what has gone down in the past between her husband and Gordo, her lack of sleep, her secret dependency on a cocktail of pills, her desire to have a child and imaging that things are going on under her nose in her own home when she is home alone . . . and maybe they are! Gordo continues to make his presence felt which comes to a head after he invites the couple around to his place for dinner, which Simon sees as the opportunity to confront Gordo with enough is enough, now get nicked and leave us alone! Gordo gets the message and lets them go.

Until the next day that is, when Robyn returns home after her morning jog to find the koi carp (a gift from Gordo earlier) dead in the pond, and the dog, Mr. Bojangles missing. They alert the Police who really are powerless in the absence of any firm evidence, and so they resign themselves to carrying on in the hope that Gordo has now fled. Home alone a few days later Robyn hears noises in the house, collapses and wakes the next morning in bed having slept through since earlier the previous day, but how did she get there?

As this plays out Simon & Robyn's relationship becomes more strained and she seeks to uncover what really went down at school 25 years ago, and Gordo seems to fade into the background. Uncovering the truth from those that her husband went to school with, the truth about her husband begins to emerge and she questions what she really knows about the man she is married to. Things come full circle when Robyn gives birth, Simon's career prospects turn to shit, and Gordo delivered his final gift to the household - an infant cradle which contains three small packages inside marked 1, 2 &3 - one is the key to their house indicating that Gordo has had ease of access, the other is a CD with just about every conversation between them and about him recorded, and the last is a DVD which reveals more than Simon would care to know and sews grave seeds of doubt in his own mind about matters very close to him.

Revisiting the hospital where Gordo has since departed having wished Robyn his congratulations, Simon receives a call from Gordo taunting him further about the CD, the DVD and what may or may not have occurred that has bought the three of them to this point. By now the truth is revealed about what did occur between Simon and Gordo twenty-five years earlier, Robyn is looking for distance between the two of them content now she has a child, and Simon breaks down in the hospital corridor a broken man as Gordo walks away satisfied he has revenge and retribution after all this time.

Edgerton has written a solid story here and demonstrates that he has an eye for Directing that delivers a strong debut for the versatile multi-talented Actor. The story unravels at a good pace and there is enough going on around the periphery to hold the interest. But, I was looking for a few more chills and thrills than there were and a little more suspense and tension than was provided for here. I enjoyed the film and recommend it to you, but felt just a little short changed for these reasons and wanted more, but nonetheless Edgerton has once again proven what he's capable of and delivers in this film on many levels. With brother Nash on duty behind the camera when Joel was in front, there is clearly a strong partnership here.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-