I requested a screener of the 2000 supernatural horror film The Gift but later discovered I already owned it on VHS. This wasn't a good sign for this Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell, The Evil Dead) directed movie as usually if I can't remember something it means it left little impression. I found the film to be a bit of a slow burn, but maybe due to being more mature, I found myself really enjoying this story, and it was a delight spotting a whole bunch of famous actors throughout this.
Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) stars as Annie Wilson, a small town psychic who performs readings for the local townsfolk. After socialite Jessica King (Katie Holmes - Brahms: The Boy II, Miss Meadows) goes missing, her worried father convinces the local Sheriff (J.K Simmons - Spider-Man) to enlist Annie's help, and soon using her powers she is able to locate the body of the woman hidden in a pond of the property of local redneck Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves - John Wick). After a trial however, Annie discovers her visions about the murder have not stopped, and that the wrong person might have been convicted of the crime.
The Gift is played super seriously and super straight, with the paranormal elements only popping up every now and again. At its heart this is a small town drama, made up of a variety of important characters who add texture to the film world. You have Donnie's abused wife, Valerie (Hilary Swank - P.S. I Love You), mentally ill mechanic Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi - Ted) and Annie's husband to be (Greg Kinnear - Mystery Men) all fleshing out Annie's character, with Valerie she is trying to do the right thing by her, with Buddy she is trying to be a friend to him, while with Annie's husband she is forced to confront her own past with relation to the husband of her three children who died a year or so previously. The three children also play a part, but felt much less developed and there just as a prop rather than feeling like living breathing characters. As the movie's most vocal antagonist, Reeves was on fun form, even if he seemed far too good looking and well presented to be playing a backwater redneck.
The story plays out like a murder mystery, including police procedure scenes, and a relatively lengthy court case sequence that makes up a lot of the second act. I found this all interesting in my more mature guise, but I will admit, I have a giant soft spot for films from the early 2000s, I have such a huge feel of bittersweet nostalgia for that time in my life. It was a delight spotting so many famous faces, with most the actors here doing great jobs. The horror is very slight, mainly taking the form of a couple of nightmare/vision sequences that Annie has, there are more elements of a thriller here, including a satisfying finale that works despite using old horror film tropes (the final encounter taking place at night during a thunder storm). Special effects were minimal, but the blood shown on screen was fine enough, and the make-up effects on the corpse looked effective.
The Gift is light on horror and high on drama, it can easily be seen as a slow burn. For me, I was there for the acting, and the tightly woven story that while predictable for the most part, I still enjoyed seeing play out to its thrilling conclusion. The Gift is currently streaming exclusively on ARROW in the UK.
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