Last weekend the newly released mind-bending thriller Gone Girl topped the box office at $38 million. Now it’s the number one movie released in the past few weeks. But what’s all the stir about?
Based on the Gillian Flynn bestseller, the film follows Nick and Amy Dunn (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike), a couple who, at first glance, appear to be in love. But when Amy mysteriously disappears, their relationship begins to deteriorate retrospectively as everyone looks at Nick as the perpetrator. Clues coming in from all sides to her possible murder lead straight to him, but he adamantly says he never killed his wife. Neil Patrick Harris also finds his way into the film, adding yet another suspect in the disappearance of Amy Dunn. Who are we to believe? What happened to this innocent woman? As Glamour puts it, “While Affleck’s acting is, as ever, perfection, it is Pike who will leave the lasting impression, Pike who will haunt your nightmares for weeks.”
Who is Rosamund Pike, though? She has quite the repertoire tucked under her belt, including parts in the Bond film Die Another Day, 2005’s Pride & Prejudice and 2012’s Jack Reacher, but this is by far her most significant role to date. The blonde British bombshell was born in the late 70s and began her career with appearances on British TV shows, such as Wives and Daughters, but her chilling and incredibly convincing interpretation of Amy Dunn in Gone Girl is what’s really bringing her into the spotlight. “[The movie] was a new take on what could have been just a typical story,” says Grace Fetters, a recent Gone Girl-goer and a sophomore at Miami. “It was interesting because the protagonist was unlikeable and the antagonist was unexpected.”
Fetters describes her experience in the theater as “horrifying, funny, suspenseful, and interesting all at once.”
“I feel like it’s going to be a classic,” she says. “It was just different.”
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Gone Girl is worth the trip to the theater. The average rating given by viewers was 8/10 and over 90 percent of the audience that has seen it already loves it. It’s a movie that’s “dark, intelligent and stylish to a fault,” playing to director David Fincher’s “sick strengths.”
So basically if you’re looking to get creeped out and a little mind-boggled, Gone Girl is your next watch. This is a movie that will make you think — it will surprise you and will especially will stick with you. Plus, Ben Affleck has a nude scene, which we are not complaining about (thanks you, Ms. Garner.)