History Film / Gifted

* DebateAndSwitch: While Frank is the more sympathetic figure, and Mary is clearly shown to be happy with him, Evelyn has valid points about Mary being an exceptional child with huge potential, and an appropriate education is important to that. This fight plays out over most of the film, but is essentially negated when [[spoiler: Frank reveals that he's been sitting on the mathematical proof she's been waiting for all these years, and she agrees to take that instead of taking Mary. Which pretty much establishes that she cares more about achieving fame and success than about Mary herself.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Mary's mother, Diane, killed herself when she was just a baby. It's indicated this was due to feeling that she was left without a purpose after [[spoiler: having solved the math problem she'd worked on for most of her life]], which her mother had [[MyBelovedSmother caused further by controlling her life quite strictly]], and became depressed as a result. She had previously attempted suicide before this as well.

** Frank tells Mary she has to go to regular school so she can learn what "ad nauseum" means. We then learn that [[spoiler:Frank used to be a philosophy professor until his sister died.]]

* HateSink: Evelyn, is she ''ever''. She single-handedly ruined the life of her daughter, Diane to the point where Diane is DrivenToSuicide, tried to steal Mary from Frank, goes out of her way to ruin her son's life, [[spoiler: reneged the custody agreement by sending Fred to an animal shelter against Mary's wishes]], and clearly sees her ''own'' granddaughter as a tool instead of a person. She's pretty much an easy target for the audience to root against.
* HeroicBSOD: It's not obvious, but Frank was probably going through one for the entire movie as a result of his guilt over his sister's death and desire to rebel against everything that his mother stood for. Symptoms: renouncing his [[spoiler: academic roots, giving up his presumably well-paid job as an associate-professor in philosophy at Boston University]], making his living as a freelance boat repairer, obstinately refusing to put Mary in the kind of academic environment in which she would intellectually thrive. However later on with the revelation that his sister [[spoiler: committed suicide after completing her life's work.]] Likely due to the [[StageMom high pressure upbringing that Evelyn plans for Mary.]] Then his reasoning becomes less about rebellion and more about his fear of history repeating.
* HiddenDepths: Frank can pass for a person with a blue-collar job more or less successfully, but halfway during cross-examination it is revealed that [[spoiler: he used to be an associate-professor in philosophy at Boston University seven years ago. Given that he is in his mid-thirties, that is an impressive achievement.]]
* HypocriticalHumour: Roberta scoffs at Frank for not even being able to hire a white lawyer, although [[BoomerangBigot she is African American herself]]. Though this is probably less hypocritical than a world-weary assumption that a white lawyer would be taken more seriously in court. Given the easy rapport that Frank's local attorney seems to have with the judge, her concerns may be overblown.
* InnocentProdigy: Emotionally Mary is still seven, and her reactions to situations like [[spoiler: finding out her father had been tracked down for the custody case but still didn't want to see her]], or [[spoiler: when Frank leaves her with the foster family]] remind the audience she is still very much a child.

* IronicEcho: In an early scene Mary is too busy writing to say good morning to her teacher in the classic sing-song voice with the rest of the class, so has to say it by herself. Later, the morning after [[spoiler: Bonnie and Frank got drunk and slept together, Bonnie walks around the house in just a sheet]] and is spotted by Mary:
-->'''Mary:''' Good ''morning'' Miss ''Stevenson''.

* JustInTime: Frank's rescue of [[spoiler: Fred moments before he is about to be administered a lethal injection]].
* KickTheDog: On Evelyn's part. Frank finally goes back for Mary when he finds out that [[spoiler: Evelyn paid them to take Mary's cat Fred away (due to disliking cats and feeling Fred was a distraction for Mary. He finds Fred, and two other cats, minutes from being euthanized. Realizing Evelyn violated the custody agreement, he goes to confront her and take Mary back after rescuing Fred and the other two cats from being put down.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: When Mary asks Frank why [[spoiler: he's leaving her with the foster family]], Frank starts saying, "We've discussed this ad nauseam" but stops abruptly, remembering the time he used this phrase in happier days. Instead, he simply says, "We have discussed this."

* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: The reason for Diane's suicide - [[spoiler: she had solved the mathematical problem that had become the entire purpose of her life. Once it was done she had no idea what to do with the rest of her life.]]

* StealthPun: When Frank rhetorically asks, "Do I look gifted to you?" with reference to his intellectual ability, Bonnie looks down at him with probably a different idea of [[BiggerIsBetterInBed "gifted"]] in mind.

** Evelyn's lawyer proposes that, instead of Mary living with either of them, she lives with a foster family that's close enough for Frank to visit regularly, Evelyn will receive visitation rights, and Mary will attend the gifted school. Frank's lawyer convinces him to take it, on the grounds that it's the only way to guarantee that Mary doesn't get sent to Boston. [[spoiler: Subverted, when Evelyn then manipulates the foster family to give her effective control, and push Frank out.]]

--> '''Mary''': You're smiling.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: {{Subverted}}. For the first couple of scenes it seems like Frank and Bonnie's story arch is going down a familiar path of WillTheyOrWontThey...until [[spoiler: they get drunk and sleep together with nearly disastrous consequences, and refrain from pursuing a sexual relationship for the rest of the film.]]

-->'''Frank''': Diane instructed me very clearly that I was only to publish it postmortem.
-->'''Evelyn''': She died six years ago.
-->'''Frank''': '''It wasn't ''her'' death she was talking about.'''
* WhamShot: When Frank reveals to Evelyn that [[spoiler: Diane had solved the Navier-Stokes problem]] by showing her a script with the respective title.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: ZigZagged. Mary clearly understands enough about "the facts of life" to figure out why [[spoiler:Bonnie was walking around in Frank's home wearing nothing but a bedsheet]] -- to the point that she smugly comments, "Awkward", when she and Frank meet for the first time after the incident. But she's also very trusting of the adults whom she loves, such as Frank and Roberta. That's why she places total faith in Frank's promise that he's not going to leave her [[spoiler:which makes his decision to send her to a foster family all the more shattering for her]].

Following the suicide of his genius sister, Frank Adler (Evans) takes on the guardianship of his niece Mary (Grace). Frank attempts to raise Mary to be as normal a kid as possible, but she has clearly inherited her mother's intellectual abilities, especially in the field of mathematics. When Mary starts attending school at the age of seven it is clear to her teacher Bonnie (Slate) that she is far beyond the other children in her class or even her own abilities as a teacher. A chain of events is set in place that draws Mary's grandmother Evelyn (Duncan) back into her and Frank's lives after seven years, in a battle over Mary's future.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Pretty much all of the main characters. Mary is enrolled in the Academy but also gets to enjoy a normal childhood in her primary school. It's implied that Frank is beginning to come out of his self-imposed exile from the academia, as Mary finds a philosophical treatise by Descartes in his car. Evelyn goes around fulfilling her lifelong dream of achieving fame in mathematics, not just for herself but also for her daughter posthumously. There are some indications that Frank and Bonnie might consider a relationship.]]
* EducationMama: Evelyn was this to Diane, and once she discovers Mary has inherited her mother's smarts she tries to become this to Mary too. For Evelyn this is also a case of VicariouslyAmbitious - as her own career in mathematics was cut short by moving to America and having a family, she hopes to gain academic fame through her descendants.

* {{Foreshadowing}}

* AntiVillain: Painting Evelyn as a villain comes with the genre for a film like this, but she remains vaguely likable throughout because of her sharp wit, the fact that she does love Mary in her own way, and the nagging suspicion that she is right about Mary needing a totally different kind of academic environment from the one Frank is providing her. However, her [[StageMom relentless drive for her daughter]] to be an academic success led to her having an emotional breakdown after completing her life's work and then [[spoiler: committing suicide]] as she lost all sense of purpose in life. This makes Frank's mission to prevent her from deciding Mary's academic future more sympathetic and understandable. [[spoiler:Given Evelyn's MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.]]

* ChildrenAreInnocent: ZigZagged. Mary clearly understands enough about "the facts of life" to figure out why [[spoiler:Bonnie was walking around in Frank's home wearing nothing but a bedsheet]] - to the point that she smugly comments, "Awkward", when she and Frank meet for the first time after the incident. But she's also very trusting of the adults whom she loves, such as Frank and Roberta. That's why she places total faith in Frank's promise that he's not going to leave her [[spoiler:which makes his decision to send her to a foster family all the more shattering for her]].

* ChildrenAreInnocent: ZigZagged. Mary clearly understands enough about "the facts of life" to figure out why [[spoiler: Bonnie was walking around in Frank's home wearing nothing but a bedsheet]] - to the point that she smugly comments, "Awkward", when she and Frank meet for the first time after the incident. But she's also very trusting of the adults whom she loves, such as Frank and Roberta. That's why she places total faith in Frank's promise that he's not going to leave her [[spoiler: which makes his decision to send her to a foster family all the more shattering for her]].

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Frank is clearly the more sympathetic figure, and it's entirely reasonable that he wants Mary to have a normal childhood, rather than having her whole life driven toward academic achievement (especially given that Mary's mother killed herself because she had no other focus in life). But Evelyn is also correct that Mary's exceptional mind needs more than a typical, public-school education (Mary is shown to be very bored being taught mathematics that's far below her level). [[spoiler: In the end, Frank gets custody, and agrees to give Mary access to more challenging programs, while also making sure she spends time with kids her own age.]]