The Gift That Gives

An enjoyable cheery rom com based on an older long term relationship and their family. The plot has twists that surprise you and it is a fun ride.

If you're after an enjoyable story with quirky characters The Gift That Gives is for you. It's wonderful to see a film that can create humourous romantic characters out of an older couple and combine their complex relationship with the romantic adventures of their sons. This is a three for one adventure with three romances cleverly woven around the central characters.

Do yourself a favour and spend time with this adorable film it will leave you with a smile and that wonderful fuzzy warm feeling in your soul.

'The Gift that Gives' is the stuff of good independent films: it gives voice to underrepresented filmmakers, actors and audiences; brings to light cultural values of Asian Australians; and does both with professionalism, creativity and good story telling. And of course, it's entertaining because it includes good acting, interesting cinematography and thoughtful themes. The production value is great and the integrity obvious.

We need more film makers like Joy Hopwood to broaden our perspective and appreciation for the diversity of stories and cultures that make up our planet.

Definitely worth including on your Christmas movie list!

My favourite film by Joy House Production yet! A feel-good romance story that invites viewers into the world of grassroots success, intertwined with unexpected love tales that shine a light on the beautiful richness and diversity we are lucky to have in modern-day Australia. The optimistic lens the film is filtered through is a refreshing change. Kudos to Joy and the Cast for investing the passion they did into this story. The production elements come together beautifully and it's encouraging to see how the Director's vision can bring opportunity to talent that allows everyone to continue developing their craft...now that's a Gift that's worth giving! Excited to see what comes next from Joy Hopwood and her team :)

With way too much violence and general negativity on screens, big and small, it was refreshing to watch a feelgood movie for a change. The fact that The Gift That Gives is an Australian production was a bonus. When movies today are so often dog-eat-dog and mean-spirited with little or no redemption, this light-hearted story lifted my spirits. It could be said that there is a bit too much moralising, but I found the message of kindness, love and joy expressed through the characters done with a light touch. And it was good to see in the casting a realistic cross section of Aussies with different cultural backgrounds. I look forward to Joy Hopwood's next production.

Sometimes you just want a wholesome story about characters navigating their life and relationships, and this is where this film delivers.

You find yourself rooting for all the characters and the themes of the struggle of finding success in the creative industry in relatable to many, and it's a nice change of pace that it's implied that success is found through working and supported each other as opposed to competition (which is in keeping with the overall wholesomeness of it all)

It fits nicely with many other Christmas films (although the Australian element is always a nice touch, again, nice to see an Xmas movie taking place in the Summer!)