“Gone Girl,” David Fincher’s powerful adaption of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling book, opens with a voiceover that poses a few unsettling questions: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do? These questions reverberate over the course of the movie, as Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike play husband and wife in a domestic horror film that is consistently thrilling, enigmatic and dark.
Their story is set in North Carthage, a fictional Missouri town. We first meet Nick Dunne, whose relationship with his wife Amy is on the brink of collapse. It’s their fifth anniversary and what started out as a perfect fairy tale has slowly disintegrated since the couple both lost their jobs and moved from New York to Missouri to take care of Nick’s dying mother. The story of their marriage, which takes a quick turn for the worse, is told through flashbacks woven into the plot.
Soon after the movie begins, Amy goes missing. Nick returns home to a smashed coffee table and calls the police, who find blood in the kitchen. As the police, the town and the media enter crisis mode, the audience knows only what Nick knows, which, as it turns out, isn’t really much. The first half of “Gone Girl” is structured as a mystery; the big reveal occurs in the second half, when Amy finally begins to narrate her side of the story. The narrative is fairly balanced, with Nick taking us through events as they happen in first person, while Amy’s story is partially told through detailed diary entries.
The two of them make an interesting pair: Amy is neurotic and brilliant, the inspiration for a beloved book series called “Amazing Amy” created by her parents; Nick plays second fiddle as an ordinary, flawed man with his share of issues. It is decidedly easier to sympathize with Nick, especially as the movie progresses, but the alternately dazzling and terrifying Amy is the star of the show.
Though it has its share of shocking moments—the climax is horrifically violent—”Gone Girl” never seems to strike a deep emotional chord. In spite of this, it is an enormously clever, beautifully composed film that will not fail to shock and thrill.
