Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Patrick Fugit, David Clennon, Lisa Banes, Missi Pyle, Emily Ratajkowski, Casey Wilson, Lola Kirke, Boyd Holbrook, Sela Ward
Rating: (R16)
Five stars (out of five)
Gone Girl (Rialto) is such a movie.
The novel by Gillian Flynn the film was based on left its readers stunned, appalled and desperate for more.
A film with a script by the author should do the same but, as any book lover will tell you, the more you love a book the greater the possibility that Hollywood will ruin it.
Well everyone who read through the night trying to work out who is manipulating whom can happily turn up for director David Fincher's version knowing that everything that chilled you is still there.
In fact, even when you know the twists they still retain their devastating force.
Perfect couple Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) have been hit hard by the recession.
They both lost their jobs and have left New York to regroup in Nick's home town in Mississippi.
On the surface, things look picture perfect but in reality Nick is on the verge of asking for a divorce.
On their fifth wedding anniversary Nick come home to find Amy gone and the house in disarray. He calls the police and is plunged into a media storm with television shows discussing his ''guilt'' based on how he conducts himself.
It is a nightmare where Nick keeps wrong-footing himself and everyone is left wondering just where Amy is.
- Christine Powley
