The story of a karmic boomerang in the film The Gift (2015): plot summary, ending, essence of the film, meaning, similar films.
Country: USA, Australia, China
Genre: thriller, drama, detective
Year of production: 2015
Director: Joel Edgerton
Actors: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Allison Tolman
Slogan: “The sins of the past become your present”
The plot of the film “The Gift” tells how the past suddenly overtakes a person. This intense picture easily holds the viewer to the screen and, with the help of unobtrusive but effective psychological pressure, shows how well-being and stability gradually turn into disaster.
What is the movie about
Brief description of the contents of the picture. The main characters of the film, Simon and Robin, purchase a spacious house in a prestigious area of the Los Angeles suburbs and move there to live. At the mall, a man meets his former classmate, Gordo Moseley. In front of him, he dictates his address to the cashier – this is necessary so that the purchases are delivered to their home.
The next day, Robin meets his new neighbors, Lucy and Ron. After taking a shower, under the door the girl finds a bottle of wine and a message from Gordo, in which he congratulates Simon on returning home (he once lived in Los Angeles).
The next day, Robin decides to invite Gordo to dinner. In the evening, during the conversation, it turns out that Gordo is a former military man. He finds it difficult to carry on a conversation and soon leaves.
A little later, Gordo secretly gives them a new gift – fish. According to Robin, they should give him something too. Simon is not happy about this. Suspecting that there is some hidden meaning in the actions of his former classmate, he says that Gordo is actually a strange guy and has always been like that. At school, for example, they called him a weirdo. Robin is disgusted by the thought of bullying and, defending her new acquaintance, she says that children are often unreasonably cruel.
A little later, Gordo invites them over, and Simon assumes that the impressive bachelor has a crush on Robin. The girl is pleased with this interpretation, as is her husband’s jealousy. After sitting with him for a while, the couple are about to leave and Simon asks Robin to wait for him in the yard. As she leaves, Simon tells his former classmate that he doesn’t want to see him anymore.
The next day, she and Robin discover that someone has poisoned all the fish. From then on, the couple’s life turns into a real nightmare. Robin is sure that Gordo is watching them and it seems to her that one day he will definitely harm them. She also thinks that the point here is not so much that Moseley “fell” on her, but rather her and Simon’s past. She tries to find out what happened, but her husband quite categorically refuses to explain anything.
Several months later, she discovers that Gordo is indeed following her. Realizing that she won’t get anything from Simon, she turns to his sister for help. She says that in his youth Moseley was harassed by an adult guy, and Simon and his friend saved him, but told everyone about it. Unable to withstand the ridicule, the young man was forced to leave school.
Robin (by this point she is already “deeply pregnant”) decides to conduct an independent investigation. After rummaging through her husband’s belongings, she discovers a whole dossier on Gordo and her husband’s competitor, Danny MacDonald.
It turns out that in the past Gordo was convicted of burglary and kidnapping of a child. In addition, he was dismissed from the army for inappropriate behavior. After talking with Lucy, Robin decides to find Simon’s friend Greg, with whom he, it seems, saved Moseley many years ago.
She meets with him and he tells him that there was actually no history of harassment. Simon slandered Gordo out of his natural meanness, thereby ruining his life.
Outraged, Robin calls her husband out for a frank conversation and accuses him. He makes an excuse: yes, he did something bad, but Gordo really was a strange guy… He refuses to apologize to Moseley. However, a little later he still meets with his former classmate and asks for forgiveness. There is no remorse in his voice and he behaves almost defiantly – Proudly does not forgive him. Simon gets angry and beats him up. At home, however, he tells his wife something completely different…
Soon Simon is promoted at work. He and his wife decide to celebrate this event at home. In the midst of the celebration, a man hears some noise on the roof, and then someone breaks the glass in the house. It turns out that this was done by Danny MacDonald, who passionately accuses Simon of framing him.
Robin’s water suddenly breaks and she gives birth safely in the hospital. Simon, having finally become a father, is happy. However, his joy is overshadowed by a call from work: he was fired for actually fabricating a case against MacDonald. Robin finishes him off, saying that she wants to leave him. Simon replies that they will talk about it later and goes home.
At the door he finds another gift from Gordo. In one package, Simon discovers a key that matches their front door. The other envelope contains a video disc. It shows that Gordo visited Simon’s house while Robin was unconscious after taking tranquilizers. The main character is horrified – this means that the father of the child could very well be Moseley.
Gordo himself visits Robin and brings her flowers. The young woman asks what happened to his face and he replies that Simon beat him. Meanwhile, he returns to the hospital. He catches a glimpse of Gordo in the corridor, getting into the elevator. A little later, he calls Simon and mockingly says that he really could be the father of the child. It may not be…
The Gift Ending explained
Explanation of the ending of the picture. Simon wants to look at the baby again – seeing who the child looks like will at least calm him down. But he still doesn’t get an answer to his question.
At the very end, Gordo leaves both of them and leaves with a sense of accomplishment. The meaning of the ending of the film “The Gift” is quite simple. Whether Gordo is the child’s father is not really that important. The main thing here is that he destroyed the relationship between Simon and Robin and thoroughly ruined the life of the offender. He wanted to take revenge on his old enemy and did it.
The meaning of the film The Gift
At first it seems that “The Gift” is a typical thriller about a stalker obsessed with his victim. However, the plot of the film is far from clear-cut. In particular, there is a moral plot and a deep dramatic filling.
Building the film as a domestic thriller, the director chose to abandon violence, which has become an integral component of every story of this type. This made special sense: in particular, it allowed Edgerton to focus on the relationship drama based on the subtle psychological game played by Gordo.
This character is deliberately presented to us as a hidden psychopath, capable of anything. This really makes sense, because everything here turns out to be far from being as simple as it seems at first glance.
From the very beginning, the director subtly plays with us, making us feel the feelings and experiences of Simon and Robin. And we are being fooled, because it’s difficult not to sympathize with them. The answer is simple: none of us wants our personal boundaries to be crossed without our permission. Any attention can enrage oneself and create a conflict, which, however, with a correct assessment of the situation, can be completely avoided. But Simon doesn’t want this – and in the end he declares war on Gordo…
One of the main ideas of the film is that people, unfortunately, often underestimate the consequences of the actions they commit and the words they say. But every action we take (both committed and not committed) entails certain consequences. They sometimes accumulate like a snowball and reach an incredible scale. Perhaps they do not affect our destinies, but they can change the life of another person and even destroy it.
In their analysis of the film, many viewers note that the director in this film explores the essence of human life quite deeply. Using Gordo as an example, he creates the image of a karmic boomerang. The film has an open ending and Simon’s main question remains unanswered. He will probably torment him throughout his life – what is this, if not the most powerful manifestation of revenge or even karmic justice?..
The essence of the film is probably that a person is known through his actions. There is no need to judge others by appearance, social status and education. You should also not commit cynical actions that you will later bitterly regret. You should not try to appear cooler in the eyes of the public than you really are by humiliating the weak – this never brings honor to anyone.
“The Gift” is a monotonously developing and at the same time dramatically intense human drama with a good semantic load. The value of this picture lies in the fact that it provides a lot of food for thought and allows you not only to think about many things, but also, perhaps, to rethink your life.
Similar films
Here are several films similar in meaning to the film “The Gift”:
- “Oldboy” (South Korea, 2003). On the day of his daughter’s birthday, Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and placed in a windowless room for 15 years.
- “Sound Sleep” (Spain, 2011). Cesar is depressed. To somehow occupy himself, he watches his neighbors.
- “The Cable Guy” (USA, 1996). One day, Chip Douglas meets Steven Kovacs. He soon realizes that his acquaintance is dangerous and decides to eliminate him.
- “Harry is a friend who wishes you well” (France, 2000). Harry is a pleasant person in every way. However, it is still better to stay away from him.
