Gone Girl

Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn (based on her novel of the same name)
Released: October 2014
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Carrie Coon
—

Let me just begin by saying, oh my Lord, Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay to her own novel! That never happens!

When writing my last post, What are you like, Rosamund Pike? (about actors whose public perception changes based on the roles they choose), I wondered how I was going to write this review…

I was so shocked by Rosamund Pike’s performance – she was fantastic of course – but I wasn’t prepared for her to pick this role.

Let’s be clear, this isn’t the mystery/detective/Midsomer Murders deal I was expecting. This is a story of a manic, psychopathic panther disguised as a house cat.

Pike’s character, Amy, is the wife to Nick (Ben Affleck), when she goes missing. They were a seemingly perfect couple who live in the suburbs, but how happy were they really before this tragedy happened?

Their house is a gory crime scene on the day of her disappearance, so it’s assumed that a brutal murder has taken place and her body has been hidden, but who did it?

It gets dark very quickly by this point as they outline the characters’ backstories, and how it came to this.

Nick is thrust into the spotlight of the media, who struggles to be the likeable and concerned husband that the public expect. He is quickly labeled as number one suspect, and Nick gets lawyered-up!

It is certainly a tragic and unnerving film, with some scenes being particularly distressing so this thriller is not a sleepy Sunday afternoon kind of film.

Nevertheless, this is a psychological thriller, which is always one step ahead of you; it has you flip-flopping between characters as to who to root for.

Amy is portrayed as a trustworthy and humble suburban woman on the outside, but has a twisted mind. I was a bit terrified of her as we realise the full potential of her off-kilted psyche. But I still kind of liked her – she has a bit of Thelma & Louise in her storyline.

Nick is a good-looking, albeit, quietly egotistical, depressed and selfish man, so he’s not all that great either. But that doesn’t necessarily make him guilty… Does it?

As Pike said in an interview about this “social satire” film, we are all editing ourselves – on Facebook and in public – so who are we all really? What are we capable of?

Gone Girl  does challenge you to acknowledge the major social issues and kinks in human nature within society. As we’re rubbing shoulders with the best and the worst of humanity.

Jodie’s rating: 8/10