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The horror film 鈥淭he Gift,鈥� which stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall and is directed by another of its stars, Joel Edgerton, is impressing critics.

鈥淕ift鈥� tells the story of married couple Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Hall), who encounter an unsettling high school acquaintance of Simon鈥檚 named Gordo (Edgerton). The movie is Edgerton鈥檚 feature-length debut and is also written by the actor, who has previously appeared in such films as 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� and 鈥淓xodus: Gods and Kings."聽

Many reviewers have been impressed with the film, with critics calling it 鈥�,鈥� 鈥�,鈥� and 鈥溾�� may be the most unnerving in any mainstream American thriller since 鈥楽even.鈥�"聽

Some moviegoers may be surprised to see the superlative reviews for 鈥淭he Gift.鈥� Often many horror movies are viewed as akin to coming off an assembly line creatively and aren鈥檛 usually well-reviewed. For example, many of the 2014 highest-grossing horror movies such as 鈥淎nnabelle,鈥� 鈥淭he Purge: Anarchy,鈥� 鈥淧aranormal Activity: The Marked Ones,鈥� and 鈥淥uija鈥� nor the 2015 movie 鈥淯nfriended鈥� did well with critics.

However, horror TV shows are currently scoring critically and with viewers on TV. The FX show 鈥淎merican Horror Story,鈥� which switches to a different spooky setting every season, has become a hit for the network, and the NBC show 鈥淗annibal鈥� was well-received by critics before it was recently canceled. The FX show 鈥淭he Strain鈥� and Showtime鈥檚 鈥淧enny Dreadful鈥� have also been mostly well-reviewed.

Meanwhile, some critically well-received thrillers have come to movie theaters recently, like last year鈥檚 鈥淕one Girl,鈥� which was based on Gillian Flynn鈥檚 massive bestseller and earned 鈥淕irl鈥� actress Rosamund Pike an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The 2014 movie 鈥淣ightcrawler鈥� and 2013鈥檚 鈥淭he Conjuring鈥� mostly scored with critics as well. If films like these keep appearing on the scene, the genre could experience a creative reawakening akin to what鈥檚 happening on the small screen.