Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck star in a tragic story filled with mystique, misdirection and mystery. The trailer should have said “Gone Girl, the story that makes you question your marriage, your family and the trust you have in others”. ‘Gone Girl’ is a film adaptation of the book ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn, it tells the story of a husband returning home on his anniversary to find it broken into, ransacked, bloodied and worse of all, no wife.
As time goes by and more evidence comes out, everyone starts to question the innocence of the husband. The press, the police, and even his sister, turn suspicious. The questions abound; where is Amy (Pike)? Who would kidnap her and why? What effect does kidnapping Amy have? Who gains from her kidnap /disappearance/murder?
All these questions will be swirling round your head as you try to figure out the fate of Amy and the innocence of Nick (Affleck). However, ‘Gone Girl’ is not your standard murder mystery, it has more twists than a Jeffery Archer novel, more drama than a Kardashian episode and more stomach turning moments than Saw.
The story is well portrayed by the whole cast, pulling you deep into the emotional conflicts faced by characters throughout the film. The psychopathic nature of one of the characters is acted so convincingly that I will never be able to look at them again without wondering; ‘what they are really thinking?’
The interesting spin in Gone Girl is the gradual build of the story; it splits the story down into the husband’s perspective in the present and the wife’s perspective in the past, with the two timelines getting closer together as the movie progresses. This gives the film an uneven flow, jumping from high intensity moments in the present to calm moments in the past, thus providing an overall thrilling viewing experience to what could have been a dull drama.
The film keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the last moment, never giving your nerves a moment of respite, keeping your mind working on overtime trying to figure out if this tragedy will be resolved. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film, the cast complemented each other beautifully allowing you to escape reality and be absorbed into the drama. Expect shocking scenes, stomach wrenching sights, misdirection, empathy, sorrow, anger and most of all sadness.
Needless to say I would recommend Gone Girl to anyone who loves thrillers or murder mysteries. A word of caution, however; it may not be the best film to watch with your partner!
Star Rating = 8/10
To watch the trailer click here
