The Giver

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The Giver

PG-13

2014

1h 37m

Drama

Action

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

34%

Tomatometer

166 Reviews

55%

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50,000+ Ratings

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) lives in a seemingly idyllic world of conformity and contentment. When he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), an old man who is the sole keeper of the community's memories, Jonas discovers the dangerous truths of his community's secret past. Armed with the power of knowledge, Jonas realizes that he must escape from their world to protect himself and those he loves -- a challenge no one has ever completed successfully.

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Critics Consensus

Phillip Noyce directs The Giver with visual grace, but the movie doesn't dig deep enough into the classic source material's thought-provoking ideas.

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Riese Bernard

Autostraddle

08/13/2021

Taylor Swift showed up as a piano-playing hologram with a bad wig and it officially became a comedy.

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David Sims

The Atlantic

09/22/2016

Noyce tries to thread the needle by hewing close to his source material while peppering in some grander-scale sci-fi business to keep things moving. It doesn't remotely work.

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David Ehrlich

Complex

09/27/2014

1.5/5

The fatal irony at the heart of The Giver is too hilariously blatant to ignore: here is a dystopian teen drama about the perils of sameness that feels exactly like all of the other movies in its increasingly crowded genre.

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JD Duran

InSession Film

08/19/2024

C+

The Giver is a studios way of pandering to the dystopian teen drama crowd...

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

08/05/2022

1.5/4

As both an adaptation and a stand-alone film, The Giver is something of a mess.

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Cory Woodroof

Lumination Network

02/11/2022

Noyce and company have made a reverent film that both honors its beloved beginnings and provides audiences with a thoughtful piece of family entertainment.

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Chris S

@Janomi Jun 28

The Giver presents one of the more thought-provoking ideas in young-adult science fiction. A society that has eliminated pain, conflict, and emotion in exchange for peace and stability raises fascinating questions about memory, free will, love, and what it truly means to be human. Director Phillip Noyce reinforces those ideas beautifully through the gradual introduction of color, a simple but effective visual representation of Jonas's awakening. Jeff Bridges brings warmth, wisdom, and quiet sadness to the Giver, while Meryl Streep is appropriately cold and calculating as the Chief Elder. Their performances give the film much of its emotional weight. The biggest drawback is that the adaptation simplifies many of the novel's philosophical ideas, making the story feel more conventional than its source material. The ending also arrives a little too quickly after a deliberate buildup. Even so, its meaningful themes and strong performances make The Giver a worthwhile adaptation.

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Noah H.

@Noah85 Jun 18

Booooring. Story was so slow and it felt like it went nowhere. Acting was bad, visuals were bad, everything was bad. Would not recommend.

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Jazib S

@RT63713157 Jun 17

The movie was overall bad. The book is better than watching this. Some of the scenes is so dull and emotionless, harder and difficult to enjoy. The book is 10x better than the movie. Though the visuals was good, the movie didn’t have their exciting feeling, I wouldn’t recommend watching the movie, but I’d recommend reading the book.

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Colton E.

@RT69319362 Jun 3

It should be more book accurate but other than that they had some pretty good ideas outside the book.

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Graham B

@Ilikemovies154 May 21

Precision of language? They should have had more precision of aim. I wanted to see Jonas get shot more, and I am very disappointed that I didn't get to see him mutilated. I'm also sad that I didn't get to see the beautiful romance scene between The giver and Jonas. I love you Jonas. Geez I'm such a critic.

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River R

@Thegivermoviesucks123 Apr 24

This movie is one of the worst renditions of the giver by Lois Lowry I have ever seen. First off they change at least 50 things about the story within the first 30 minutes. Phillip Noyce had one job and he did not do it well. and he removed the suspenseful ending. worst movie I've ever seen.

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Phillip Noyce

Director

Jeff Bridges

The Giver

Meryl Streep

Chief Elder

Brenton Thwaites

Jonas

Alexander Skarsgård

Father

Katie Holmes

Mother

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Synopsis

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) lives in a seemingly idyllic world of conformity and contentment. When he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), an old man who is the sole keeper of the community's memories, Jonas discovers the dangerous truths of his community's secret past. Armed with the power of knowledge, Jonas realizes that he must escape from their world to protect himself and those he loves -- a challenge no one has ever completed successfully.

Director: Phillip Noyce
Producer: Nikki Silver, Jeff Bridges, Neil Koenigsberg
Screenwriter: Michael Mitnick, Robert B. Weide
Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Production Co: Tonik, As Is Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Sci-Fi Action and Violence|A Mature Thematic Image)
Genre: Drama, Action, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 14, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $45.1M
Runtime: 1h 37m