The Gift That Gives

Year: 2023

Director: Joy Hopwood

Rated: PG

Release: 14 January 2024

Distributor: Joy House Productions

Running time: 81 minutes

Worth: $15.00
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Cast:
Takaya Honda, Lily Brown-Griffiths, HaiHa Le, Damien Sato, Susan Ling-Young, Lex Marinos

Intro:
… lives up to its title, and it’d be rude to not accept it and enjoy it for what it is.

Making a film has never been more accessible, and writer/director Joy Hopwood has taken it to heart, with The Gift That Gives her fourth feature film as writer/director/producer since 2019’s The Script of Life, followed by Rhapsody of Love and Get a Life, Alright! In the process, she’s developed a noteworthy house style.

In The Gift That Gives, self-help author Callum (Takaya Honda) meets community TV presenter Kate (Lily Brown-Griffiths), but falls for her besty, bookshop owner Linda (HaiHa Le). Lucky for Kate, Callum has a hot brother, Austin (Damien Sato), who needs a caring companion. Add to this romantic foursome, Callum and Austin’s parents, played by Susan Ling-Young and Lex Marinos, and you have a scenario that offers a peek into the lives of middle Australians living in the suburbs; a point of pride here, of course, is the diversity on display, which also includes Maria Tran’s flatulating yoga instructor, Genevieve Craig’s small business owner and Atharv Kolhatkar’s art teacher.

Takaya Honda (Neighbours) makes for a likeable lead, and Susan Ling-Young and Lex Marinos are welcome comedic support whenever they are on screen. The story is simple and told in a matter-of-fact way that never outstays its welcome. There’s an unashamed TV flatness to the film’s style and the writing. What you see is what you get, with two-dimensional inner lives for the characters, even when hinted otherwise. Just like the revered work of John Cassavetes, there’s a looseness to Hopwood’s ensemble, and a throughline to her concerns; they may not be edgy, but it doesn’t make them less valid.

When it comes to representation, Joy Hopwood is certainly doing some heavy lifting in terms of a truer representation of the characters that we get to see on our screens. What’s even better is that they’re not cliches or stereotypes. In many ways, The Gift That Gives lives up to its title, and it’d be rude to not accept it and enjoy it for what it is.