10 Underhyped Movies That Blew Everyone Away

9. The Gift

joel edgerton the gift
STX Entertainment

The Non-Hype

While there was certainly a bit of mild interest surrounding The Gift in the run-up to its release - primarily because it was the directorial debut of actor Joel Edgerton - that interest was limited to dedicated movie fan circles, the people who actually knew who Edgerton was. On a mainstream, broad level, there was zero actual hype.

At the time, production company Blumhouse wasn't the respected and well-known name it is today, and furthermore, getting comedy regular Jason Bateman to lead a gritty thriller seemed like an odd casting choice that didn't do The Gift any favours.

The Big Reaction

But when the film came out, the conversation changed immediately. Bateman's performance was singled out as being particularly impressive, as was the unnerving atmosphere and tone created by directorial newcomer Edgerton.

Packed with emotion and shocking twists, the movie just worked, and nobody expected it to be as great as it was. Even in a crowded summer season - surrounded by the likes of Mission Impossible and Ant-Man - The Gift was on the lips of movie fans everywhere, and its incredible 92% RT score tells you all you need to know.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!