The Gift (2000 film)

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In Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson lives with her three sons. To earn a living, she offers psychic readings to locals. She is friendly with Buddy Cole, an emotionally unstable young man who works at an auto repair shop, and Valerie Barksdale, a woman who is currently in an abusive marriage. Valerie's husband Donnie has repeatedly threatened Annie's family because Annie advised Valerie to leave him.

Jessica King, the fiancée of the school principal, Wayne Collins, disappears. After a few days, pressured by Jessica's wealthy father, sheriff Johnson reluctantly consults with Annie. Annie, who is actually a clairvoyant, receives fragmented visions of Jessica's dead body in a pond and several landmarks. Despite his skepticism, Johnson narrows down the location to the property of Donnie Barksdale. The police find Jessica's body in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.

Buddy wipes his face with a washcloth and does not give it back. Buddy hates his father and later tries to explain why to Annie, but Annie is preoccupied with the finding of Jessica's body and does not listen. That evening, Buddy's mother calls Annie for help, as Buddy has tied his father to a chair. Buddy sets his father on fire, and it is revealed that Buddy's father sexually abused him as a child. Buddy is arrested and taken to a mental hospital.

At Donnie's trial, it is revealed that he had an affair with Jessica. He is convicted of Jessica's murder and sent to prison. Later, Annie receives more visions revealing Donnie's innocence as well as her own death. She asks prosecutor David Duncan to reopen the case and find the real murderer, threatening to reveal his affair with Jessica, which she witnessed.

Annie confides in Wayne of Donnie's innocence. At Wayne's suggestion, he and Annie drive out to the pond at night, where Annie has a vision showing Wayne is actually the murderer. Wayne confesses that he was angry after discovering Jessica was cheating on him with multiple other men including Donnie. Wayne attempts to kill Annie by striking her in the head with a flashlight, but Buddy appears and knocks him out. Annie and Buddy lock the unconscious Wayne in the trunk of Annie's car. Buddy tells Annie that he escaped from the mental hospital and hands her the washcloth she had previously given him.

The two drive to the police station. Buddy waits in the car while she enters the station. When she returns with the police, Buddy has disappeared. When Annie explains what happened at the pond, Johnson informs her that Buddy died by suicide earlier that day. Annie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the washcloth Buddy returned to her. Annie returns home and looks at photographs of her late husband Ben that her oldest son holds as he falls asleep each night. The next morning, she and her sons are at his graveside.

The film was written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson before the success of Sling Blade.^[10]

The Gift was released theatrically in the United States on December 22, 2000, by Paramount Classics.

Home media

Paramount Home Entertainment released The Gift on VHS and DVD in July 2001.^[11] On December 3, 2024, Scream Factory released a collector's edition 4K UHD Blu-ray edition of the film,^[12] while a 4K UHD Blu-ray is released in the United Kingdom by Arrow Films on January 27, 2025.^[13]

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Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 58% based on 123 reviews, with an average score of 5.90/10. The site's consensus reads, "With a reported budget of around 10 million, The Gift is obviously a labor of love for those involved. Unfortunately, the A-list cast can't prevent the movie from becoming a by-the-numbers whodunit with an ending that's all but unsatisfactory."^[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[15] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on a scale of A to F.^[16]

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4, and called it "Ingenious in its plotting, colorful in its characters, taut in its direction and fortunate in possessing Cate Blanchett."^[17] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "Raimi's flair for rich atmospherics — expertly abetted by cinematographer Jamie Anderson (Grosse Pointe Blank) and composer Christopher Young (Wonder Boys) — and a cast that goes full throttle hold you in thrall. "^[10] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote: "Raimi eschews trendy, over-emphatic effects in favor of a straightforward approach that makes for a solid tale well told."^[18]

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave it a mixed review and was critical that the "Characters lean too heavily toward the Southern grotesque, and the direction the plot is heading is more predictable than it should be." Despite praising the cast, Turan wrote: "Overly familiar material, even well done, cannot be made more intrinsically interesting than it is. Not even by Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves."^[19] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The picture is saved from mediocrity by Mr. Raimi's smooth competence, and by the unusually high quality of the acting."^[20] Curt Fields of The Washington Post called it "So chock-full of stereotypes as to be a filmic Southern Country Safari" and advised "Don't Bother Opening This 'Gift'".^[21]

Box office

The film grossed $12,008,642 at the U.S. box office against a production budget of $10 million.^[3][1]

Accolades

More information Award, Category ...

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Actress	Cate Blanchett	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Keanu Reeves	Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Male	Giovanni Ribisi	Nominated	[22]
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Actress	Cate Blanchett	Nominated	[23]
Saturn Awards	Best Horror Film		Nominated	[24]
	Best Actress	Cate Blanchett	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Giovanni Ribisi	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Hilary Swank	Nominated
	Best Writing	Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie – Horror/Thriller		Nominated	[25]
World Stunt Awards	Best Fire Stunt	Erik Cord	Nominated	[26]

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