Directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson

Starring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank, Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Gary Cole, Michael Jeter, J.K. Simmons, Kim Dickens, and Rosemary Harris

The Southern Gothic atmosphere drips off of this mystery-thriller as we navigate the dark underbelly of its local community, with the stacked cast delivering a ton of strong performances that help me emotionally click with this one. It’s quite evocative of how Sam Raimi had steered A Simple Plan with such somber and suspenseful direction. He wasn’t dishing out the over-the-top flair that we’re used to seeing in flicks like The Evil Dead, Spider-Man, and Send Help. No, no, he’s dialing into a quieter space with Billy Bob Thornton (he’d drawn inspiration from his mom’s alleged psychic experiences) and Tom Epperson’s script. Raimi pulls us into these increasingly grim occurrences in the small town of Brixton, Georgia, with widowed mother of three Annie Wilson fully grounding the overarching narrative as she gives psychic readings to the community. Props to Cate Blanchett for being such an unsurprisingly enthralling star who easily convinces me that this clairvoyant is wrestling with emotional and psychological burdens. Purely what she does with the subtleties in her face and her eyes does so much to convey all the weight that’s bearing down on Annie. She feels responsible for having to handle the duties that come her way, and that’s happening while she’s doing her best to take care of her boys and grieve the sudden loss of her husband. Her dynamic with Buddy Cole definitely stands out as a compelling element that allows us to understand what a crucial figure she is in this town and that provides a devastating subplot via Buddy’s part of the movie. I daresay this is the best performance that I’ve seen from Giovanni Ribisi so far. I’m used to seeing him as that Selfridge prick from the Avatar series, but he’s nothing like that here as a client of Annie’s who’s haunted by his past. Every time I look at this guy, I’m viscerally feeling the exhaustion radiating off of him. This is someone who’s breaking at the seams, and it will only be a matter of time before he finally implodes or explodes. It helps that the makeup department is reinforcing this with those terribly reddened and baggy eyes that they’ve put on Ribisi. And there’s a great tension thrumming back and forth between him and Blanchett, getting me to cheer for Annie to succeed at saving Buddy, even when the situation looks dire.

Then we’ve got the supporting roster boasting Keanu Reeves (who I’m accustomed to watching in heroic roles, but holy crap, he excels at committing himself to the violent loathsomeness of this domestic abuser), Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Gary Cole (who’d also been in A Simple Plan two years earlier), J.K. Simmons (it’s funny to see him here two years before he’d play J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man), Michael Jeter, and Rosemary Harris (there’s yet more funniness that comes with her showing up in a bit role two years before she’d play Aunt May in Spider-Man). This is an ensemble that turns Brixton into a living and breathing town whose lore I very much want to unpack. Sure, the script alone might have its unwieldy segments while it’s trying to juggle the multiple subplots and keep them all revolving around Annie, but it’s not something that drags down my experience because of how interested I’ve become in these residents and their interconnections amongst a paranormal and tense mood that thickens throughout the tale. I’m all for how the cinematography and the lighting utilize the colors as well, further accentuating the vibe into a place that can hit me as being strangely cozy despite the grisliness that’s unfolding. And then it all wrap up with a satisfying payoff, although there’s one specific subplot that I wish we could have gotten more closure on. Like I’d said, this is a script that’s juggling plenty of moving parts, so it’s not shocking when an issue like this arises in the ending. Oh well, even then, I’m quite happy with what The Gift has presented. It neatly slots into this supernatural niche of underrated cinema from over a couple decades ago, finding a spot alongside Stir of Echoes, What Lies Beneath, The Others, Gothika, Hide and Seek, and The Skeleton Key. Speaking of which, I should revisit The Skeleton Key sometime. I thought it was fine enough when I saw it back in 2023, but it’s stuck with me more strongly than I’d expected it to, and I suspect that I’d be significantly higher on it after a rewatch. But anyhoo, you should give The Gift a shot if it sounds like it’s up your alley and if you’re in the mood to see Raimi helm a tonal outlier in his oeuvre. And hey, I’m amused by Chad Stahelski appearing as one of the stunt workers, especially since we can draw the connection between him and Reeves pre-John Wick.

My final rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars