Film Review: Gone Girl (2014).

So I finally got round to watching Gone Girl that came out towards the end of last year and oh my god, I am absolutely kicking myself for not getting to the cinema to see it. This genuinely has to be one of the best films I have ever watched. I will review it and give you as much background as I can without giving any of the film away.

Background

Gone Girl is a psychological thriller film adapted from Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel of the same name. The cast consists of Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Carrie Coon. Directed by David Fincher, it is about a man, Nick Dunne (Affleck), on the day of his fifth wedding anniversary who comes home from the bar that he owns to find that his wife Amy (Pike) is missing. The media becomes heavily involved as Amy's parents used Amy as inspiration for their popular Amazing Amy children's books. Suspicions soon arise that Nick killed his wife and his awkward behaviour further contributes to this as he is interpreted by the media and police as a sociopath.

My thoughts

That as much as I can tell you about it without spoiling any twists and the ending. For 149 minutes, this film was incredible and pulled no punches. The twists in the story came so unexpectedly and left me gasping and hooked at the end. The film goes between two time periods and David Fincher's amazing directing works in making neither of them ringing completely true. To do this, he uses the character Amy's diary writing for the past but for the present we are partially relying on Nick's account. I can't actually review some things because they will just give the entire film away but I cannot stress how much you need to watch this.

Ben Affleck was fantastic as Nick Dunne and it was nice to see him in something so gripping and psychologically thrilling. He is certainly starting to age now but my love for him hasn't diminished at all as he leads the audience to believe that Nick could actually be responsible for the murder of his wife through his emotionless awkwardness and violent temper. 

Rosamund Pike was actually something else in this film. She was absolutely phenomenal and being Amy is possibly the best thing she has ever done. Her performance is taut and gives off the vibe of a woman on the edge. Although her voice is sometimes overcome with emotion through her diary entries, her face gives you absolutely nothing which terrified me more than anything. Her bedroom scene with Neil Patrick Harris was especially horrifying and hard to watch but still somehow capitvating. She has been nominated for many awards like the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and SAGS for this film and rightly so.

This film's suspense and pace never slows and you never find yourself feeling bored at any point. It confuses, scares and amazes you all at once. It is definitely the one to watch when you need a good psychological thriller. Don't do what I did and hold off from watching it any longer, it is one of the best films I've ever seen.

Here's the trailer:

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thanks for reading.

Laura.