The Giver

35%

Tomatometer

171 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

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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Critics Reviews

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Riese Bernard

Autostraddle

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

Aug 13, 2021

Full Review

David Sims

The Atlantic

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.

Sep 22, 2016

Full Review

David Ehrlich

Complex

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.

Rated: 1.5/5

Sep 27, 2014

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JD Duran

InSession Film

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

Rated: C+

Aug 19, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

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

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 5, 2022

Full Review

Cory Woodroof

Lumination Network

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

Feb 11, 2022

Full Review

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Audience Reviews

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Mason M I usually don't do ratings this low, but I have a particular hatred for this film. It's a bad film in the first place, but it's also such a disservice to the book. The book is so amazingly done and written and this movie just takes everything that was good about the book, and just gets rid of it for some reason. The result is a quite dumb movie, without much of a purpose. I would love to see a well made adaption of The Giver, and this is not it. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/13/24 Full Review Jayne H i have watched many films over my 61 years, and this one i resonated with. absolutely wonderful ❤️ Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/02/24 Full Review Austin S Good adaption of the book with enough differences. I do prefer the book though. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/11/24 Full Review Ken A This movie was amazing! Loved the book and I also loved the movie *shocker* Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/15/24 Full Review Anna L The giver? GIVER MY BUTTHOLE.I unfortunately have to put half a star because it doesn't give me the option to put ZERO!!! this movie gave my turtle a tumor and I'll never get over this horrible movie because what even was that??? obviously i didn't watch all of it. I watched about 30 minutes of it and it felt way longer than that anyways! never watch this. It made me loose my marbles and my 55 friends threw up everywhere. Disgusting. My clothes are ruined. The book was good though, i like the book. Dont know how these people were able to mess up so badly, think about that. Id rather skin myself alive than watch this again. Especially since I found out Taylor swift was in it. I would like to keep my ear drums thanks. The movie was so flavourless. The only thing it would be good for is to sleep to. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/18/24 Full Review Aj B I think it’s very good just takes a while to pick up I suggest reading the book first like I did because the book and movie end very differently Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/22/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

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