The Gift

The Gift is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson based on the alleged psychic experiences of Thornton's mother. The film centers on Annie (Cate Blanchett), who is involved in a murder case when she acquires knowledge of it through her extrasensory perception and psychic abilities. The cast also includes Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, and Greg Kinnear. Plot In the town of Brixton, Georgia, widow Annie Wilson is a clairvoyant fortune-teller who has visions of her late grandmother. After Jessica King, the promiscuous fiancée of the local school's principal, Wayne Collins, disappears, Annie receives a vision revealing that Jessica has been killed and her body thrown into a pond. She informs local sheriff Pearl Johnson of her vision, and despite his skepticism, Johnson searches a pond at the home of Donnie Barksdale, the abusive husband of one of Annie's clients, Valerie. Donnie has repeatedly threatened Annie and her three children after Annie advised Valerie to leave him, accusing Annie of being a witch and telling her and her children that she will burn in hell. Valerie permits the search while Donnie is absent, but he returns while the search is proceeding. The police find Jessica's body in the pond and Donnie is arrested for her murder.