The Gift (2015)

The gift

This film is an American-Australian psychological thriller made in 2015. The themes that run throughout this film are loneliness, possession and death. This was written, directed and produced by Joel Edgerton in his directorial debut alongside with Jason Blum. This film was released by STX Entertainment, and received a box office of $59 million from a $5 million budget.

This film is about a couple intimidated by a man who they knew from high school, who we learn becomes more of a stalker and possessive over the couple, causing harm to their surroundings.

The first scene is the view of a new house that a couple has moved into as they’re undoing the boxes for the house, showing that they’re main protagonists of this film. The husband breathes into their glass house window, and draws a heart whilst his wife is on the other side, symbolising his love for her, already making the audience aware that they are in a stable relationship. The scene after, the couple bumps into a ‘high school’ friend called Gordo, who we already inspect is a dodgy person as he listens out for their home address when the cashier asks for it. From then onwards, the audience have gathered information that Gordo is linked the title name ‘the gift’ suspecting he will leave a gift at their house, knowing their address. Furthermore, we notice that Gordo appears at night-time when the wife is alone, whilst the husband is at work, suggesting that the dark can foreshadow that he is evil and that is could potential lead to danger.

Mis-en-scene is shown through what the couple is wearing and also by the style of their house, they dress very formally on a day to day basis and we discover that the wife works as an architecture, suggesting their wealth and class that Gordo might want. Moreover, the frequent visit suggests his interest in Robiyn (wife), which is highlighted in the micro feature, performance. Furthermore, with the micro feature, mis-en-scene is used when the couple visits Gordo’s house and find a child’s room, further suggesting that that Gordo is shady, not telling them that he has a child.