The Gift
Short description
The Gift follows Simon and Robyn, a married couple who have recently moved into a new house in a Los Angeles suburb. Their settled life is disrupted when Simon runs into Gordo, a man he knew in high school. Gordo is friendly and somewhat awkward, and his early gestures seem harmless enough, but he grows increasingly intrusive, showing up unannounced and leaving gifts whose meaning becomes harder to read. As Simon and Robyn try to create distance, matters only worsen, and Robyn begins to sense that her husband has not told her everything about his past. What connects the two men, and why Gordo considers his behaviour justified, drives the story toward questions about how well anyone knows a spouse.
Joel Edgerton directed the film from his own screenplay, his first time in the director's chair, ahead of Boy Erased in 2018. He also appears as Gordo, opposite Rebecca Hall as Robyn and Jason Bateman as Simon, with supporting turns from Tim Griffin, Allison Tolman and Busy Philipps. Edgerton produced alongside Jason Blum and Rebecca Yeldham for Blumhouse Productions, Blue-Tongue Films and Ahimsa Films.
Made on a budget of about 5 million dollars, the film took roughly 59 million worldwide, a strong return on its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.7/10 from 151 votes and on TMDB 6.7/10 from over 3,500 votes, while the film critics' rating stands higher at 7.5/10 from 199 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- When Rebecca Hall's character is in the hospital, she is placed in room 237 – a reference to Stephen King's novel "The Shining".
- When Gordon stays for dinner, the amount of wine in the glasses changes drastically between shots, even after Simon tells Robin that Gordon no longer needs to be served.
- For the role, Joel Edgerton dyed his hair reddish-brown and wore brown contact lenses, hinting at the possibility that Simon's child might be his son. In reality, he has dark chestnut hair and blue eyes.
- In one scene, Robin holds a sponge with the dark green side up; when the camera changes angle, it's visible that the sponge has already been flipped over.
- All scenes featuring Joel Edgerton were filmed in 7 days.
- When Robin picks up the letter from Gordon again, where he writes that he is disappointed in his friendship with Simon, Simon returns home, and Robin hides the letter behind her back. With the change of shot, the position of Robin's hands changes, sometimes bent, sometimes straight.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
