The Gift - B

Rated R, 108 minutes

Your past can come back to haunt you, especially if you were a meanie. That's the basic premise of the familiar but taut, well-made psychological thriller directed, written by and starring actor Joel Edgerton in his feature debut as a director. It's an auspicious directorial debut that begs the question, among many: do you really know your partner's past? Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a young married couple whose life is going just as planned until a chance encounter with an acquaintance named Gordo (Edgerton) from Simon's high school sends their world into a harrowing tailspin. Simon doesn't initially recognize Gordo, but after a series of uninvited, strange encounters and mysterious gifts prove troubling, a horrifying secret from the past is uncovered after more than 20 years. Serviceably creepy but extremely tense and well-paced and acted, "The Gift" is solid thriller that's less horror and more along the lines of "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle," "Fatal Attraction" or to some degree, last year's stellar thriller "The Guest." Though some standard conventions are used - dead animals and awkward, unannounced visits that eventually turn deadly (and whatever you do, don't look in the bathtub) - "The Gift" still gets in your head with Edgerton's fine, unnerving pacing that takes its time, nicely shaded characters and a handful of nice twists. The slightly disappointing ending doesn't quite achieve the payoff it builds up to be, but "The Gift" has some fun getting there, and the leads all perform it nicely: Edgerton's weirdo, forgotten castoff, Hall's compassionate wife who has had some rough patches of her own, and the real acting surprise, Bateman as the guy who isn't as nice as you (or even he himself) might think. Bateman, who usually does low-brow, crass comedies of late, is quite believable in a very serious role; maybe it's those comedies and everyman appeal that has you fooled into believing he's such a nice guy. Much like the characters, the darkly enjoyable thriller "The Gift" is flawed and something we've seen before, but it's a memorable, late-summer present to audiences and something different than the standard action film or comedy. Definitely worth a look.