Brilliantly conceived and executed, The Gift is a pitch perfect psychological thriller that will have many debate it's many provocative themes, while shuddering at the unnerving thrills which Joel Edgerton expertly and methodically creates.

Slowly yet surely Joel Edgerton has established himself in Hollywood as an actor of commanding presence and towering skill, and if output like The Gift is any indication, it won’t take long for his equally skilled talents as a filmmaker to be noticed as well.

Of course in his home country of Australia Edgerton’s varied talents in front and behind the camera are well known. After all, he is the man who wrote and starred in one of the best Aussie crime movies The Square (directed by his brother Nash), as well as writing the script for Felony.

While the quality of those films vary, what is consistent is that Edgerton has a flair for the dark and twisty, and they don’t come more dark and twisty than The Gift, Edgerton’s directorial debut that is as haunting in its themes as it is nerve wrecking entertaining in its filmmaking.

The film centres on Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall), a married couple trying to start anew in a picture perfect house located in suburban Los Angeles. On their first day they run into Gordo (Edgerton) a childhood friend of Simon’s, pleasant and well-mannered yet with an odd mysterious air about him, whose initial welcoming pleasantries -a bottle of wine here, an invitation to dinner there- quickly oversteps boundaries.

So far, so stalker-movie conventional. Yet Edgerton’s scripts have consistently proven to be anything but, and The Gift follows suit, leading us down deep, dark depths that are rich in dramatic tension, with every layer exposed revealing home truths that speak tp the disturbing lows that we humans can succumb to.

Strong performances are featured from all involved. Bateman especially has never been better, utilising that arrogant comedy shtick of his in a dramatic turn that naturally, perfectly flows with the twists and turns of the story. Hall contemplates with a reaction filled turn, taking on the many secrets of a dark past like she inherited the weight of the world, with only the truth to free her from the burden.

It’s Gordo who is the centre of their domestic whirlwind, and Edgerton is effectively creepy as a “villain” that deserves our contempt as well as our sympathy.

The latter is interesting, in that Gordo presents an evolution of bad guys in psychological thrillers. Once feared figures of dread (Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs; John Doe in Seven), Edgerton suggests that that the more frightening monster is the monster that created the monster, and does so in a brilliantly intelligent way.