In August 2012, the project was revealed, with Joel Edgerton authoring the screenplay and Edgerton planning to direct his first film. Alfred Hitchcock's Fatal Attraction and Michael Haneke's 2005 French film Caché, as well as Park Chan-Vengeance wook's Trilogy, served as influences for the screenplay.
On January 19, 2015, principal photography began and completed on February 20, 2015. The majority of the filming took place at a property in Hollywood Hills, where STX Entertainment also conducted promotional interviews for the film. According to cinematographer Eduard Grau, the film was shot on an Arri Alexa with Canon K35 lenses and shot in 25 days. After working together on the 2013 short film Streetcar, Grau was suggested by Nash Edgerton, who acted as the film's stunt coordinator.
From March to June 2015, post-production took eleven weeks. The film's US distribution rights were purchased by STX Entertainment on January 20, 2015. The film was renamed The Gift by STX.
The Gift was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on July 31, 2015, but was later pushed back to August 7, 2015. On April 1, 2015, the first trailer was released. It debuted on Periscope, Twitter's live video streaming service, making STX Entertainment the first advertiser to work with Twitter on a Periscope campaign.
Against a budget of $5 million, The Gift generated $43.8 million in North America and $15.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $59 million.
The picture made $11.9 million in its first weekend, placing third behind Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ($28.5 million) and fellow newcomer Fantastic Four ($25.7 million).