Cate Blanchett plays a very personal role in Billy Bob Thornton’s horror thriller

With her haunting performance in the Southern Gothic Horror of 2000, The gift, Cate Blanchett once proves once again that she can master any role. Written by Billy Bob Thornton And Tom EppersonSet in Georgia, this slow-paced thriller delves deep into the heart of human existence and features a brave Blanchett portraying a mother who would do anything to protect her family and the dead who can no longer speak for themselves. The gift was a moderate box office success, grossing $40 million on a $10 million budget while receiving generally positive reviews.

The behind-the-scenes stories have taken on an equally enigmatic quality in the years since, as the film was partly inspired by Thornton’s mother, who he said was a psychic. Thornton himself grew up in Arkansas with several siblings, and his mother ran a psychic service out of their southern home, much like Blanchett’s character. With a ghostly, lived-in feel, The gift is full of relatability as it depicts an intimate small-town community falling apart after a gruesome murder occurs in the area. An underrated horror classic from the 2000s, The gift is one of Thornton’s most personal works and explores powerful themes such as motherhood, abuse and hope.

The gift

Release date

22 December 2000

Duration

111 minutes

What is “The Gift” about?

Cate Blanchett is Anabelle “Annie” Wilson, a widower and mother of three young sons who works as a medium from her own home in Brixton, Georgia. Annie is a clairvoyant and has the ability to glimpse the future, the past, and even the dead. She conducts readings in her home using her own deck of cards and actively cares for everyone in her close-knit town. One of her frequent clients is an abused wife, Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank), whose husband Donnie (Keanu Reeves), abuses her regularly. While Annie tries to help Valerie escape from her situation, Donnie seeks revenge and begins to persecute Annie and her family. At the same time, the school’s principal Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear)’s young fiancée, Jessica King (Katie Holmes), disappears, and soon there are whispers of murder. Annie becomes involved in the investigation after she has visions of Jessica’s death and where her body might be. As Annie becomes involved in the murder case, she finds herself entangled in the lives of other townspeople, particularly the emotionally tormented Buddy Cole (Giovanni Ribisi), who comes to her aid in an unexpected way.

Cate Blanchett plays a fearless mother and a crime-solving clairvoyant

Blanchett is harrowing in her role as Annie Wilson, a devoted mother haunted not only by the recent death of her husband, but also by the dead who constantly follow her, including her late grandmother. Blanchett doesn’t often venture into horror films, but here she’s great as a beacon of hope in an otherwise dark film. As a heroine who saves the soul of a small town, Annie is a model ally to abused women, both in her efforts to save Valerie and her determination to seek justice for Jessica’s murder. Blanchett’s powerful portrayal is mostly subtle and understated, as she witnesses a series of cruelties during her disturbing visions that obviously affect her deeply. With Annie’s unique gift comes a kind of grief and pain that only she can truly understand, and this is expertly conveyed and felt through Blanchett’s raw and vulnerable portrayal of the troubled mother.

Blanchett’s most gripping and terrifying scenes are alongside her co-star Keanu Reeves, who delivers perhaps his most ruthless performance yet. Reeves, a now famous Hollywood action icon known for The Matrix And John Wicktakes on the rare role of a villain in The giftand it’s as terrifying as it is refreshing. Blanchett and Reeves even get pretty physical in the film, especially in an electrifying break-in and chase scene in which Donnie breaks into Annie’s house while she’s reading to Valerie. In the chaos of the attack, Reeves’ character knocks over and spills red paint, symbolizing the suffering and pain he has inflicted on these women and his community. Blanchett is fearless in the scene and performs her own intense stunt as she chases after Donnie. She slips on the red paint and falls hard, reinforcing the character’s powerful physicality as a virtuous hero.

Billy Bob Thornton grew up with a mother who performed psychic readings

Thornton grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the son of self-proclaimed psychic Virginia Roberta. He had a very unusual, eclectic childhood, surrounded by crystals and the constant traffic of his mother’s customers, he said Larry King“I grew up with a psychic mother… The film The gift which stars Cate Blanchett and which I co-wrote with Tom Epperson, is actually loosely based on my mother…” The images Thornton paints of his childhood are evident in the film, particularly in the personification of Annie’s family home, which in a sense functions like a living and breathing character of its own. Annie houses quite a collection of crystals and other occult items which adorn her home, much like Thornton describes his mother’s practice. The lived-in, gloomy Southern Gothic home, which sees a multitude of Annie’s clients arrive each day, and the special and inexplicable energy it exudes, are strongly felt, even through the screen.

The gift is one of many collaborations Thornton and Epperson have written together. Their big break came a decade earlier with the terrifying crime thriller, One wrong move. Thornton subsequently won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the Drama Film, Sling bladeuntil he and Epperson returned to their southern roots with this supernatural thriller. While The gift is a fictional story whose central crime and mystery plot is completely invented. Annie’s personality is heavily inspired by Thornton’s mother. In an interview with Oprah’s Masterclass, Thornton revealed:

“My mother is a psychic. People would come to my house and she would read people’s secrets to them at some point. So I had a kind of Native American, Italian side on my mother’s side and Irish on my father’s side. So I grew up with sports and hard work and biscuits and gravy on the one hand. And books and crystals and burial mounds and ghosts and all these things.”

“The Gift” is a timeless Southern Gothic horror story

Summer is coming to an end and that means cozy movie nights in autumn are just around the corner. The gift fits the changing seasons like a glove and is set in a small-town setting teeming with red-leafed trees and old houses that lend a deceptively inviting atmosphere to the film’s threatening nature. Beyond the horror, Thornton and Tom Epperson manage to tell a powerful, female-centered story about violence and survivors. Swank’s supporting role is unflinching, as she and Reeves don’t hold back in their portrayal of spousal abuse, with intense scenes of volatility. Annie then becomes a refreshing foil in such a serious story, as she refuses to give in or give up, despite all the bad she has experienced and seen on a daily basis.

The defining theme of survival The giftand the effect that trauma has on a person, whether it be the death of a loved one or abuse, is personified in the character of Buddy Coyle. Blanchett’s haunting performance is scary enough, but Giovanni Ribisi’s compelling portrayal of a tortured soul who doesn’t mind abuse himself is a big part of the heart of the film. He portrays the depth of what it means to be a survivor, along with the scars that come with it. His scenes with Blanchett are emotional and moving, as both characters find a connection and a natural sense of healing in each other. Thornton’s mother is said to have helped everyone who came to her, and embodied qualities of a healer and caregiver that extended beyond her children to her clients. Annie embodies that, and Blanchett’s ability to convey terror, love and care in her portrayal of an astonishingly strong woman is certainly a beautiful tribute to Thorton’s mother, Virginia Roberta.

The gift can be rented or purchased on Amazon Prime in the USA

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