The Gift (2000)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A clairvoyant woman in a small Georgia town becomes entangled in a missing persons case that unearths dark secrets.
The story
In the small Georgia town of Brixton, Annie Wilson is a widowed mother and clairvoyant who offers psychic readings to the local community. Her life becomes complicated when she is consulted by law enforcement regarding the disappearance of Jessica King, the fiancée of the local school's principal. As Annie receives fragmented psychic visions of a crime, she must navigate the complexities of the local residents, including a struggling mechanic and a woman in a volatile marriage, while attempting to uncover the truth behind the missing woman's disappearance.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In Brixton, Georgia, Annie Wilson provides psychic readings to locals, including Buddy Cole and Valerie Barksdale. When Jessica King, the fiancée of school principal Wayne Collins, goes missing, the sheriff consults Annie. Annie receives visions of Jessica's body in a pond on the land of Donnie Barksdale, leading to Donnie's arrest. During a separate incident, Annie witnesses Buddy set his father on fire after years of abuse. Later, Annie receives visions revealing Donnie's innocence and a premonition of her own death. She convinces Wayne to help her investigate. At the pond, Annie realizes Wayne is the true murderer who killed Jessica due to her infidelity. After a confrontation where Wayne tries to kill Annie, Buddy intervenes and knocks him out. Annie and Buddy hide Wayne in a car trunk. When Annie returns to the police station, she learns Buddy died by suicide earlier that day. She is left with the washcloth he returned to her.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Sam Raimi
- Writers
- Billy Bob Thornton · writer; Tom Epperson · writer
- Cast and characters
- Cate Blanchett · Annie Wilson; Giovanni Ribisi · Buddy Cole; Hilary Swank · Valerie Barksdale; Keanu Reeves · Donnie; Katie Holmes · Jessica King; Greg Kinnear · Wayne Collins
- Genres
- independent; Southern Gothic; supernatural thriller
- Themes
- clairvoyance; domestic violence; premonition
- Tone and mood
- supernatural; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- mystery; thriller; supernatural; Southern Gothic
- Content notes
- abuse
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise for the cast and atmosphere, though some noted its predictable plot. It holds a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 62 on Metacritic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 5.90 · scale: 10 · review count: 123; Metacritic · score: 62 · scale: 100 · review count: 29
- Production trivia
- The screenplay was written before the success of Sling Blade.; The film was shot in the Savannah metropolitan area of Georgia.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…