{"id":3280,"date":"2016-03-02T15:24:12","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T15:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/?p=3280"},"modified":"2016-03-02T15:24:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T15:24:12","slug":"review-the-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/?p=3280","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3281\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg?resize=202%2C300\" alt=\"thegift\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg?w=202&amp;ssl=1 202w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg?resize=8%2C12&amp;ssl=1 8w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><br \/>\n<em>The Gift<\/em> is an excellent example of how less is more; a surprisingly simple but escalating psychological thriller.<\/p>\n<p>Robyn moves into a new home with her successful husband Simon. But not long after they move they meet Gordon, a shifty but generous man who turns out to be an old school colleague of Simon&#8217;s. But when Gordon continually visits their home, leaving multiple presents at their doorway, and learning everything about them but telling nothing about himself&#8230; events take unsettling turns.<\/p>\n<p>Joel Edgerton may star as Gordon &#8220;Gordo the Weirdo&#8221; but <em>The Gift<\/em> is his debut of stepping behind the camera as writer and director. For a first time director on a big\u00a0project, this is exceptionally well handled; the film&#8217;s main strength is a slow, building escalation of ambiguous dread.<br \/>\nEdgerton&#8217;s writing is excellent too, Robyn (Rebecca Hall) is the definition of a sympathetic and open-minded individual who accepts Gordon&#8217;s initial awkwardness and kindness, while Simon (Jason Bateman) who works for a security company, is reluctant and cautious. The characters make the movie, as they should in a good psychological thriller;\u00a0this isn&#8217;t a jump scare movie, or a horror movie, it is a quiet and tense experience that leaves the audience hanging on every word of both Simon and Gordon. We follow Robyn&#8217;s perspective in trying to unravel the mystery that is slowly revealing itself.<\/p>\n<p>It isn&#8217;t often that you watch a film that doesn&#8217;t blow anything out of proportion, outstay its welcome or break flow. <em>The Gift<\/em> is well crafted, well paced and leads the audience on with natural ease.<\/p>\n<p>It is hard to write about the film without ruining it. In fact, I only knew the barest of facts about <em>The Gift<\/em> and it already hindered the tension, so I recommend you watch this without knowing too much about it.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1651\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/08\/5c8c0-4-5.png?resize=260%2C50\" alt=\"5c8c0-4-5\" width=\"260\" height=\"50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/5c8c0-4-5.png?w=260&amp;ssl=1 260w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/5c8c0-4-5.png?resize=18%2C3&amp;ssl=1 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I3IiZU9JBuE]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Gift is an excellent example of how less is more; a surprisingly simple but escalating psychological thriller. Robyn moves into a new home with her successful husband Simon. But not long after they move they meet Gordon, a shifty but generous man who turns out to be an old school colleague of Simon&#8217;s. But&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/?p=3280\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1140,1301,1566,1643,2448,2499,2532,2870,3039,3146,3361],"class_list":["post-3280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-film","tag-gordo","tag-jason-bateman","tag-joel-edgerton","tag-psychological","tag-rebecca-hall","tag-review","tag-stalker","tag-the-gift","tag-thriller","tag-weirdo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Gift is an excellent example of how less is more; a surprisingly simple but escalating psychological thriller. Robyn moves into a new home with her successful husband Simon. But not long after they move they meet Gordon, a shifty but generous man who turns out to be an old school colleague of Simon&#8217;s. But... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Cocoa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cinemac0c0a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cinemac0c0a\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cinemac0c0a\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/42647fa8810cea5c145c053c14e5509b\"},\"headline\":\"Review: The Gift\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\"},\"wordCount\":325,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"film\",\"Gordo\",\"Jason Bateman\",\"Joel Edgerton\",\"psychological\",\"Rebecca Hall\",\"review\",\"stalker\",\"The Gift\",\"thriller\",\"Weirdo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\",\"name\":\"Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: The Gift\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/\",\"name\":\"Cinema Cocoa\",\"description\":\"Who doesn&#039;t like cocoa with their film journalism?\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Cinema Cocoa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/title_image_new.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/title_image_new.png\",\"width\":100,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Cinema Cocoa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/42647fa8810cea5c145c053c14e5509b\",\"name\":\"cinemac0c0a\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/deceb154fb7939a1d7f2a77b64e2084c361a4e0afbe41f766e4258e6935b4b45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/deceb154fb7939a1d7f2a77b64e2084c361a4e0afbe41f766e4258e6935b4b45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cinemac0c0a\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa","og_description":"The Gift is an excellent example of how less is more; a surprisingly simple but escalating psychological thriller. Robyn moves into a new home with her successful husband Simon. But not long after they move they meet Gordon, a shifty but generous man who turns out to be an old school colleague of Simon&#8217;s. But... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280","og_site_name":"Cinema Cocoa","article_published_time":"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"cinemac0c0a","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cinemac0c0a","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280"},"author":{"name":"cinemac0c0a","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/42647fa8810cea5c145c053c14e5509b"},"headline":"Review: The Gift","datePublished":"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280"},"wordCount":325,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg","keywords":["film","Gordo","Jason Bateman","Joel Edgerton","psychological","Rebecca Hall","review","stalker","The Gift","thriller","Weirdo"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280","url":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280","name":"Review: The Gift - Cinema Cocoa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-02T15:24:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/thegift.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?p=3280#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: The Gift"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/","name":"Cinema Cocoa","description":"Who doesn&#039;t like cocoa with their film journalism?","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#organization","name":"Cinema Cocoa","url":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/title_image_new.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/title_image_new.png","width":100,"height":100,"caption":"Cinema Cocoa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/42647fa8810cea5c145c053c14e5509b","name":"cinemac0c0a","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinema-cocoa-e80a6e.ingress-haven.ewp.live\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/deceb154fb7939a1d7f2a77b64e2084c361a4e0afbe41f766e4258e6935b4b45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/deceb154fb7939a1d7f2a77b64e2084c361a4e0afbe41f766e4258e6935b4b45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cinemac0c0a"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemacocoa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}