Gone Girl review: A cleverly constructed script makes this a must watch

Adapted from her own titular bestseller by Gillian Flynn and directed with characteristic brio by David Fincher (Se7en), Gone Girl is an ink-dark drama about the dissipation of a seemingly perfect marriage. Read Rashid Irani's review.

Gone Girl
Direction:

Ben-Affleck-Lisa-Barnes-and-David-Clennon-in-a-scene-from-Gone-Girl-The-film-based-on-the-best-selling-novel-will-release-on-October-3-in-America-AP

David Fincher

Actors:

Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike

Rating:

4.5/5

Adapted from her own titular bestseller by Gillian Flynn and directed with characteristic brio by David Fincher (Se7en), Gone Girl is an ink-dark drama about the dissipation of a seemingly perfect marriage.

Part mystery-thriller, part social satire, the story zeroes in on a jobless journalist couple in suburban Missouri. When he is not guzzling bourbon at a downtown bar, the husband (Affleck) passes the time playing war-themed videogames. And she (Pike) is a slick-haired blonde who harbours resentment towards her parents as well as her spouse.

Then, on the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary, the wife inexplicably disappears. There is evidence of a struggle and before long the husband becomes the prime suspect in a possible murder. Is he a killer? Or is he the victim? Constantly upending the viewer’s expectations, it is a cleverly constructed script.

Cross-cutting between the ongoing investigation and gleanings from the missing wife’s diary, the narrative gradually reveals details of the couple’s domestic discontent.