Gone Girl (2014) Review: A Marriage on Trial

Is Gone Girl worth watching?

Yes. Gone Girl is a slick, gripping and bitingly funny thriller in which David Fincher turns a missing-person case into a savage satire of marriage, image and the media that feeds on both. Rosamund Pike gives a career-defining performance, and Ben Affleck is cleverly cast as a husband nobody quite trusts. The reservations are its length and a second half that strains credibility, which will delight some viewers and exasperate others.

What is Gone Girl about?

Gone Girl begins on the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Nick (Ben Affleck) returns to their home in a small Missouri town to find signs of a struggle and his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), gone. A search begins, the police get involved, and the case quickly becomes a national sensation.

As Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) investigates, Nick’s behaviour starts to look strange: too calm, too evasive, not grief-stricken enough for the cameras. His loyal twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon), stands by him while the media circus turns against him. Meanwhile, excerpts from Amy’s diary reveal a very different picture of the marriage. Tyler Perry plays a celebrity defence lawyer, and Neil Patrick Harris appears as Amy’s wealthy former boyfriend.

Fincher directs from Gillian Flynn’s adaptation of her own bestselling novel. It is an English-language American thriller that runs 149 minutes, and Pike was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Fincher’s cold precision meets pulp

Fincher is the perfect director for this material. His exacting, controlled style gives a lurid premise the chill of a clinical investigation, and his framing makes suburban homes, police stations and TV studios feel equally sterile. Jeff Cronenweth’s muted photography and the unsettling electronic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross add to a mood of low-level dread.

Just as important is the humour. Gone Girl is often very funny, in a bleak and knowing way, especially in its portrait of cable news, true-crime obsession and the performance of grief. Fincher and Flynn skewer a culture in which public image matters more than truth, and the satire is sharper for being delivered so coolly.

Rosamund Pike and a perfectly cast ensemble

Pike’s performance is the film’s great achievement. Without giving anything away, she creates a character who is intelligent, brittle, magnetic and elusive, and her command of tone is remarkable. It is the role that made her a major star, and it remains one of the defining screen performances of the 2010s.

Affleck is used with great intelligence. His easy charm and slight smugness make Nick’s awkwardness under scrutiny completely believable, and the film cleverly plays on audiences’ assumptions about him. Carrie Coon is superb as Margo, the film’s moral centre and source of dry wit, while Kim Dickens brings a sly, patient intelligence to the detective. Tyler Perry is a surprisingly entertaining presence as the showman lawyer.

Where plausibility gives way

The film is long, and its second half takes turns that rely on increasingly heightened, almost pulp-fiction logic. Some viewers will embrace this as part of its satirical design; others will find it too far-fetched to sustain the tension. The film’s portrayal of its central relationship has also divided audiences, with some finding it provocative and others cynical. Its chilly detachment means there is little warmth to hold on to.

Who should watch Gone Girl?

It is ideal for fans of psychological thrillers, twisty mysteries and dark satire, and for anyone who enjoys stories about the secrets inside marriages. Allow for a long evening; it is best seen knowing as little as possible. The film includes strong sexual content, a burst of graphic violence and strong language, so it is strictly for adults.

More from the same shelf:

• Se7en, Fincher’s bleak crime thriller, driven by the same meticulous control.
• Fight Club, another Fincher adaptation that uses a provocative premise to skewer modern identity.
• Rear Window, Hitchcock’s classic about suspicion, marriage and watching other people’s lives.

The verdict

Gone Girl is a polished, wickedly entertaining thriller that doubles as a savage satire of marriage and media, powered by Rosamund Pike’s unforgettable performance. Its later stretches push credibility too far for some, but Fincher’s craft and the film’s dark wit make it hard for any thriller fan to resist.

Rating: 4/5