''Gone Girl'' is a 2014 American
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
film directed by
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...
and written by
Gillian Flynn
Gillian Schieber Flynn (; born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels, '' Sharp Objects'' (2006), '' Dark Places'' (2009), and '' Gone Girl'' (2012), which ar ...
, based on her
2012 novel of the same name. Set in Missouri, the story is a
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
mystery
that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (played by
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...
), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike (born 1979) is a British actress. She began her acting career by appearing in stage productions such as ''Romeo and Juliet'' and ''Gas Light''. After her screen debut in the television film ''A Rather English Marriage'' ...
). The film also stars
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...
and
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...
.
''Gone Girl'' premiered as the opening film at the
52nd New York Film Festival on September 26, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 3, 2014 by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. It was a critical and commercial success, grossing $369 million worldwide against a $61 million budget, to become Fincher's highest-grossing film.
Pike's performance was widely acclaimed by critics, and she received nominations for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
,
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
,
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, and
Screen Actors Guild Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for Best Actress. Additional nominations included a
Golden Globe Award for Best Director
The Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry fo ...
for Fincher and
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
,
BAFTA, and
Critics' Choice Award nominations for Flynn's
adapted screenplay
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
, which won at Critics' Choice.
Plot
On their fifth wedding anniversary, writing teacher Nick Dunne returns home to find his wife, Amy, missing. Her disappearance receives press coverage, as Amy was the inspiration for her parents' popular ''Amazing Amy'' children's books. Detective Rhonda Boney finds poorly concealed evidence of a struggle in the house. The media suspect Nick due to his apathy towards Amy's disappearance.
In the past, Amy revealed to Nick that ''Amazing Amy'' was a perfected version made up of the real Amy's failures. Their marriage disintegrated over time; both lost their jobs in the
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
and moved from New York City to Nick's hometown of North Carthage,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, to support his dying mother. Nick became distant with Amy, and began cheating on Amy with Andie, one of his students, while Amy became resentful towards Nick for making her move to Missouri.
Forensic analysis of the house uncovers cleaned bloodstains, indicating a murder. Boney discovers evidence of financial issues, spousal disputes, and Amy's recent propensity to acquire a gun. Medical reports indicate that Amy was pregnant, which Nick denies knowing of.
Amy and Nick had played treasure hunt games on every wedding anniversary. Amy, this year, had hidden items purchased with Nick's credit card in the shed, as well as a diary that shows Amy's growing dread and ending with the fear that Nick will kill her.
Amy drives to a campground in the
Ozarks
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
. Upon discovering Nick's affair, she had conceived a plan to frame him for her murder. She misrepresented the relationship between herself and Nick by falsifying accounts in a diary. Unbeknownst to Nick, she had befriended her neighbor to tell her stories about Nick's temper, and steal her urine to manipulate pregnancy results. She placed supporting evidence of Nick's guilt in the clue spots for the "treasure hunt" to let the police find them. She also splattered her own blood across the kitchen, and cleaned it haphazardly. She assumed that Nick would be executed for her murder, and planned to drown herself.
Nick deduces Amy's plan and convinces his twin sister, Margo, of his innocence. He flies to New York City and hires Tanner Bolt, a lawyer known for representing men accused of killing their wives. Nick also meets Amy's ex-boyfriend Tommy O'Hara, whom Amy had falsely accused of rape, by ostensible "rape wounds" on her vagina and evidence of O'Hara's semen. Nick approaches another ex-boyfriend, the wealthy Desi Collings, against whom Amy had filed a restraining order for stalking, but Desi turns him away.
When Amy's campground neighbors rob her, she calls Desi for help, convincing him that she fled Nick's abuse. Desi agrees to hide her in his lake house. After Andie reveals their affair at a press conference, Nick appears on a talk show affirming his innocence and apologizes for his shortcomings as a spouse to lure Amy out of hiding. Boney believes she has enough evidence to arrest Nick for murder, but Bolt gets him out on bail. Amy realizes that Desi intends to keep her in the house to forcibly rekindle their relationship. Amy then uses Desi's surveillance cameras to help make it appear that he kidnapped and raped her, slits his throat while they have sex, and returns home to Nick covered in Desi's blood, clearing Nick of suspicion and framing Desi as the kidnapper after recounting a false account of their altercation to Boney.
When Boney brings up the inconsistencies with Amy's account, she retorts by calling her incompetent. Amy tells Nick the truth and admits to Desi's murder, saying that him pleading for her to come back is the man she wants. Nick shares this with Boney, Bolt, and Margo, but there is no evidence of her guilt.
Nick intends to leave Amy, but she reveals that she is pregnant, having
inseminated herself
with Nick's sperm stored at a fertility clinic. Nick reacts violently to Amy's insistence that they should remain married but feels responsible for the child and decides to stay married, despite Margo's qualms. The couple then announces on television that they are expecting a child.
Cast
Production
Development
''Gone Girl'' is a
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of Flynn's 2012
novel of the same name. One of the film's executive producers,
Leslie Dixon
Leslie Dixon is an American screenwriter and film producer. She began her career as an original screenwriter, writing films such as 1987's '' Outrageous Fortune'' and '' Overboard''. She then moved into adaptations and re-writes, developing the ...
, read the manuscript of the novel in 2011 and brought it to the attention of
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
(who was originally slated to play Amy) in December of that year. Witherspoon and Dixon then collaborated with
Bruna Papandrea
Bruna Papandrea (born 1971) is an Australian Film producer, film and television producer and the founder of production company Made Up Stories (company), Made Up Stories. Prior to Made Up Stories (company), Made Up Stories, Papandrea co-founded ...
to further develop the manuscript—with Flynn's film agent, Shari Smiley, they met with film studios in early 2012.
Following the release of the novel in June 2012, the 20th Century Fox studio
optioned
In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...
the book in a deal with Flynn, in which the author negotiated that she would be responsible for the first draft of the screenplay. By around October 2012, Flynn was engaged in the production of the first draft while she was also involved in the promotional tour for her novel. Then a first-time screenwriter, Flynn later admitted: "I certainly felt at sea a lot of times, kind of finding my way through."
Flynn submitted her first draft screenplay to the Fox studio in December 2012, before Fincher was selected as the director for the project.
Fincher had already expressed interest in the project, and after he finished reading Flynn's first draft, a meeting was scheduled between the director and author within days. Typically, authors are removed from film adaptations following the first draft and an experienced screenwriter takes over; but, on this occasion, Fincher agreed to work with Flynn for the entire project. Flynn later explained: "... he
incherresponded to the first draft and we have kind of similar sensibilities. We liked the same things about the book, and we wanted the same thing out of the movie."
As further preparation, Flynn studied screenplay books and also met with
Steve Kloves
Stephen Keith Kloves (born March 18, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and directed the 1989 film ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' and is mainly known for his adaptations of novels, especially for all but one of the ''Harry Potter'' films (the ...
, who wrote the scripts for the
''Harry Potter'' series.
Fincher also provided guidance and advised the author: "We don't have the ability to gift the audience with the characters' thoughts, so tell me how they're behaving."
During the production of the final screenplay, Fincher and Flynn engaged in an intensive back-and-forth working relationship: Flynn sent Fincher "big swaths" of writing, which he then reviewed, and Fincher would then discuss the swaths with Flynn by telephone. Eventually, some scenes were rewritten "a dozen times", while other scenes were unaltered.
Following the release of the film, Flynn spoke of an overwhelming adaptation process, in which she tackled a 500-page book with an intricate plot; she explained that her experience working for a magazine meant that she "wasn't ever precious about cutting." As a consequence of the distillation process, most of the parental storylines were lost, so the mother of the character of Desi Collings does not appear in the film, and it was not possible to include flashbacks of Nick Dunne's dead mother.
In terms of the film's ending, Flynn revealed that she experimented with a "lot of iterations". One of the aspects that she was certain of was the presence of the media, which she described as the "third player", alongside Nick and Amy. In Flynn's words: "Once we got to the ending, I wanted it to wrap up quickly. I didn't want 8 million more loop-de-loops ... I had no problem tossing stuff out and trying to figure out the best way to get there."
Flynn enjoyed the experience of making the film, and she expressed appreciation for Fincher's involvement, as he "really liked the book and didn't want to turn it into something other than what it already was", and he also reassured her, even when she second-guessed herself.
Fincher described Flynn's screenwriting work as "very smart", "crafty", and "extremely articulate".
Filming
On September 11, 2013, the ''Gone Girl'' film crew began filming
establishing shot
An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on September 15 in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citie ...
, and was scheduled to last about five weeks.
Some interior scenes were filmed in Los Angeles,
with a door that could not be replicated being shipped there from Cape Girardeau.
According to producer Ceán Chaffin, Fincher took, on average, as many as 50 takes for each scene, while Flynn has said that, although Fincher is a visual director, he is meticulous about
veracity
Veracity may refer to:
* ''Veracity'' (album), a 2008 album by Evacuate Chicago
* Veracity (ethics), an ethical principle
* ''Veracity'' (novel), a 2010 novel by Laura Bynum
* Veracity, an automobile from the early 1900s built by the Smith Autom ...
—Fincher changed a scene in which Amy collects her own blood, as he thought it was unbelievable.
Production was shut down for four days when Affleck, a
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
fan, refused to wear a
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
cap for a scene. Eventually, Fincher and Affleck reached a compromise and Affleck wore a
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
hat for the scene.
Fincher later called Affleck "extremely bright" in regard to the manner in which he drew on his own experience with the media for the character of Nick Dunne. Fincher explained that Affleck "has a great sense of humor and great wit about what this situation is and how frustrating it is". Fincher described the behavior of the media in the film as "tragedy vampirism", but clarified that "''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
are not in the flowerbeds of the Dunne house".
Fashion
The lead costume designer in ''Gone Girl'' is Trish Summerville. Summerville has worked with director David Fincher as the costume designer for ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo''.
Summerville told ''InStyle'' magazine, that she wanted Nick and Amy's clothing to look contemporary due to the film's present day setting, yet understated and simple as to illustrate the idea that Nick and Amy are a regular and unassuming couple. Summerville goes on to explain that she wanted the clothes to look like everyday life as if they ordered them online or bought them at the mall, she tells
that figuring out what Nick and Amy's 'everyday life' is like was one of her biggest challenges.
As a result of Amy's self proclaimed 'cool girl' status, her costumes directly reflect the traditionally chic yet girl-next-door attitude. Amy's pieces can be seen as more timeless over high fashion and trendy as Summerville explains that Amy is just "kind of not that girl."
This is also exemplified through Amy's jewelry; she wears a Rose Gold Cartier Love bracelet as well as a necklace containing a floating 'A' to show how Amy holds onto keepsakes from the past.
Nick Dunne's character is also more simple in the way he presents himself. Summerville wanted to dress him in simple yet well-fitting suits and found that designer suits fit best due to actor Ben Affleck's larger build. Nick Dunne can be seen wearing suits from Dolce & Gabbana, as well as Prada shirts.
The shirt that Nick puts on when he comes home to find his wife missing is an important piece in the film because he does not take this shirt off for the days following. The infamous blue shirt Nick wears is a blue button-up designed by Steven Alan, paired with J brand jeans.
When Amy and Nick move to Missouri, Summerville made minor changes to Amy's wardrobe in order to signify change. She wears more muted colors, more jeans, and less high-heels.
Music
![NIN2008 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/NIN2008_%28cropped%29.jpg)
On January 21, 2014,
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
announced that he and
Atticus Ross
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...
would provide the
score, marking their third collaboration with Fincher, following ''
The Social Network
''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking web ...
'' and ''
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (original title in sv, Män som hatar kvinnor , lit=''Men Who Hate Women'') is a psychological thriller novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). It was published posthumously in 2 ...
''. Fincher was inspired by music he heard while at an appointment with a chiropractor and tasked Reznor with creating the musical equivalent of an insincere façade. Reznor explained Fincher's request in an interview:
The overall score is a combination of soothing sounds with staccato electronic noises, resulting in an unnerving, anxiety-provoking quality. NPR writer Andy Beta concludes: "Reznor and Ross relish being at their most beauteous, knowing that it'll make the brutal moments of ''Gone Girl'' all the more harrowing."
Richard Butler of
The Psychedelic Furs
The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene ...
sang a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the song "
She
She most commonly refers to:
*She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English.
She or S.H.E. may also refer to:
Literature and films
*'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...
", which was used in the film's
teaser trailer
A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...
. The soundtrack album was released on the Columbia label on September 30, 2014.
Release
''Gone Girl'' opened the 52nd
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...
, receiving high-profile press coverage and early positive reviews. It saw a nationwide release in North America in 3,014 theatres on October 3, 2014. Coinciding with the North America release, ''Gone Girl'' released at 5,270 screens in 39 international markets like the United Kingdom and Germany, on its opening weekend.
Home media
''Gone Girl'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on January 13, 2015. The Blu-ray release comes with a 36-page ''Amazing Amy'' book called ''Tattle Tale''. An audio commentary with Fincher is the sole special feature included on the DVD/Blu-ray.
Reception
Box office
''Gone Girl'' grossed $167.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and $201.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $369.3 million, against a production budget of $61 million.
Calculating in all expenses, ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' estimated that the film made a profit of $129.99 million, making it one of the most profitable films of 2014.
The film was released on October 3, 2014, in North America in 3,014 theaters and earned $13.1 million on its opening day (including the $1.3 million it earned from Thursday late-night showings). It finished in first place at the North American box office earning $37.5 million after a neck-and-neck competition with
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
/
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
's horror film ''
Annabelle'' which earned $37.1 million. The film is the biggest debut of Fincher's career (breaking ''
Panic Room
''Panic Room'' is a 2002 American thriller film directed by David Fincher. The film stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter whose new home is invaded by burglars, played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoaka ...
s opening). It was also the third biggest opening weekend for Affleck—behind ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
'' ($59.1 million), and ''
Daredevil'' ($40.3 million)—and Rosamund Pike's second biggest opening—behind ''
Die Another Day
''Die Another Day'' is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori. The fourth and final film starrin ...
'' ($47 million). The film is the tenth biggest October debut overall. The film played 60% female and 75% over-25 years old. The film topped the box office for two consecutive weekends despite facing competition with ''
Dracula Untold
''Dracula Untold'' is a 2014 American dark fantasy action-horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. A reboot of the ''Dracula'' film series, the plot creates an origin story f ...
'' in its second weekend before being overtaken by ''
Fury'' in its third weekend.
Outside North America, it earned $24.6 million from 5,270 screens in 39 international markets on its opening weekend, higher than expected.
High openings were witnessed in the United Kingdom ($6.7 million),
Australia ($4.6 million),
France ($3.65 million)
Russia ($3.4 million),
and Germany ($2.6 million).
Critical response
![RosamundPikeJan2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/RosamundPikeJan2011.jpg)
''Gone Girl'' received largely positive reviews from critics, with Pike's performance in particular earning widespread acclaim.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film an approval rating of 88%, based on 368 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Dark, intelligent, and stylish to a fault, ''Gone Girl'' plays to director David Fincher's sick strengths while bringing the best out of stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the film a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 79 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a B grade.
The ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
''s critics praised the direction, screenplay, editing, score, visual style, and acting, particularly from Pike, Affleck, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, and Missi Pyle.
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote: "Superbly cast from the two at the top to the smallest speaking parts, impeccably directed by Fincher and crafted by his regular team to within an inch of its life, ''Gone Girl'' shows the remarkable things that can happen when filmmaker and material are this well matched." ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' called the film a "brilliantly glacial adaptation ... This may not be the perfect film—but it is a perfect adaptation".
Joshua Rothman wrote in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' that he enjoyed the film "in all its abstract, intellectual, postmodern glory" and that, similar to other postmodern narratives, the film adaptation is "decisively unreal ...
heheroes and villains in Fincher's ''Gone Girl'' aren't people but stories". Rothman, who draws parallels between ''Gone Girl'' and Fincher's 1999 adaptation ''
Fight Club
''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is d ...
'', decides that the film is ultimately a farce and has resonated with filmgoers because it expresses "a creepy, confused, and troubling part of us".
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane is a British journalist who is a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine.
Career Education and early career
Lane attended Sherborne School and graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also ...
of ''The New Yorker'' wrote: "At first blush, ''Gone Girl'' is natural Fincherland ... so why doesn't the movie claw us as ''The Social Network'' did? Who could have predicted that a film about murder, betrayal, and deception would be less exciting than a film about a website?"
''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
''s Ed Gonzalez awarded the film two out of four stars, concluding: "Fincher and Flynn should have gone further and truly grappled with the real horror that, by giving his relationship with Amy another chance, Nick is indulging in one of the great myths of feminism: that it emasculates men. Rather than undermine that noxiousness, Fincher enshrouds it in funereal brushstrokes that cast his ''Gone Girl'' as a fashionable tumbling into an abyss of willful denial."
In response to some of the criticisms of the film, Flynn said, "The whole point is that these are two people pretending to be other people, better people, versions of the dream guy and dream girl, but each one couldn't keep it up, so they destroy each other".
Accolades
''Gone Girl'' garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with praise for its direction, Pike's performance, Flynn's screenplay, and its soundtrack. At the
87th Academy Awards
The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2014 in film, films of 2014 and took place on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, ...
, Pike received a nomination for
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
. The film received four nominations at the
72nd Golden Globe Awards:
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
for Fincher,
Best Actress in a Drama for Pike,
Best Screenplay for Flynn, and
Best Original Score. Pike received a nomination for Best Actress at the
68th British Academy Film Awards
The 68th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 8 February 2015 at the Royal Opera House in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2014. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Televis ...
(BAFTAs). The
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
included the film in their list of top ten films of the year, and the soundtrack was nominated for the 2015
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media is an honor presented to a composer (or composers) for an original score created for a film, TV show or series, or other visual media at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was establishe ...
.
Top ten lists
''Gone Girl'' was listed on many critics' top ten lists.
* 3rd – Matthew Jacobs & Christopher Rosen, ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
* 3rd – Genevieve Koski, ''
The Dissolve
''The Dissolve'' was a film review, news, and commentary website which was operated by Pitchfork and based in Chicago, Illinois. The site was focused on reviews, commentary, interviews, and news about contemporary and classic films.{{cite web, url ...
''
* 3rd – ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
''
* 3rd – Mara Reinstein, ''
Us Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
''
* 3rd – James Rocchi, ''
TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman
Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
''
* 4th – Ben Kenigsberg & Nick Schager, ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''
* 4th – William Gross, ''
Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
''
* 4th – Joshua Rothkopf, ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
''
* 4th – Brian Tallerico, ''
RogerEbert.com''
* 4th – Adam Chitwood, ''
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators.
Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...
''
* 4th – Rene Rodriguez, ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
''
* 4th – Gregory Ellwood, ''
HitFix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
''
* 5th –
Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''
* 5th – David Ehrlich, ''
Little White Lies''
* 7th – Tasha Robinson, ''
The Dissolve
''The Dissolve'' was a film review, news, and commentary website which was operated by Pitchfork and based in Chicago, Illinois. The site was focused on reviews, commentary, interviews, and news about contemporary and classic films.{{cite web, url ...
''
* 7th – Chris Nashawaty, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''
* 7th –
Christopher Orr, ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
''
* 7th – Justin Chang & Scott Foundas, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''
* 8th – Jeff Baker, ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
''
* 8th –
Christy Lemire ''RogerEbert.com''
* 8th – Steve Persall, ''
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
''
* 8th –
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
, ''Reelviews''
* 9th – Rene Rodriguez, ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
''
* 9th – Joe Neumaier, ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
''
* 9th – A.A. Dowd and
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; russian: Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий; born September 5, 1986)Vishnevetsky, Ignati''Time Indefinite'': "A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa"
'' Mubi'' is a Russian-American film critic, essayi ...
, ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''
* Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) –
Dana Stevens, ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
''
* Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Calvin Wilson, ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
''
* Top 10 (ranked alphabetically) – Claudia Puig, ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''
Themes
Gender
In a 2013 interview with ''
Time Out'' magazine writer Novid Parsi, who described the ending of the novel as "polarizing", Flynn explained that she wanted the novel to counter the notion that "
women are naturally good" and to show that women are "just as violently minded as men are". In a November 2014 interview, Flynn admitted that the critical gender-related response did affect her: "I had about 24 hours where I hovered under my covers and was like: 'I killed feminism. Why did I do that? Rats. I did not mean to do that.' And then I very quickly kind of felt comfortable with what I had written."
In an October 3, 2014, blog post for ''
Ms. Magazine
''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Patricia Ca ...
'', Natalie Wilson argues that by not addressing Amy's
social privilege which affords her the "necessary funds, skills, know-how and spare time" to stage a disappearance—''Gone Girl'' is the "crystallization of a thousand
misogynist
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
myths and fears about female behavior." Alyssa Rosenberg wrote in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' on October 3, 2014, that, although she was initially "unconvinced" by the book, her fascination with the novel and film was partly due to her conclusion that "Amy Elliot Dunne is the only fictional character I can think of who might be accurately described as simultaneously misogynist and
misandrist
Misandry () is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men.
Men's rights activists and other masculinist groups have criticized modern laws concerning divorce, domestic violence, the draft, circumcision (known as genital mutilation ...
."
In an October 6, 2014, article titled "''Gone Girl''
's Biggest Villain Is Marriage Itself", ''Jezebel''
's Jessica Coen wrote: "Movie Amy pales in comparison to the vivid character we meet in the book. Strip away Book Amy's complexities and you're left with little more than 'crazy fucking bitch.' That makes her no less captivating, but it does make the film feel a lot more misogynistic than the novel."
Coen concedes that this did not negate her enjoyment of the film, "as we ladies are well accustomed to these injustices."
''Time''s Eliana Dockterman wrote on the same date that ''Gone Girl'' is both "a sexist portrayal of a crazy woman" and a "feminist manifesto", and that this duality makes the film interesting. Zoë Heller of ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' wrote: "The problem with Amy is not that she acts in vicious and reprehensible ways, or even that her behavior lends credence to certain misogynist fantasies. The problem is that she isn't really a character, but rather an animation of a not very interesting idea about the female capacity for nastiness", concluding that "The film is a piece of silliness, not powerful enough in the end to engender proper 'disapproval': only wonder at its coarseness and perhaps mild dismay at its critical success."
Writing in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' on October 6, 2014, Joan Smith criticized what she saw as the film's "recycling of
rape myth
Rape myths are prejudicial, stereotyped, and false beliefs about sexual assaults, rapists, and rape victims. They often serve to excuse sexual aggression, create hostility toward victims, and bias criminal prosecution.
Extensive research has bee ...
s", citing research released in 2013 which stated that false allegations of rape in the UK were extremely rare.
She wrote: "The characters live in a parallel universe where the immediate reaction to a woman who says she's been assaulted is one of chivalrous concern. Tell that to all the victims, here and in the US, who have had their claims dismissed by sceptical police officers."
Writing for ''The Guardian'' on the following day, Emine Saner wrote that Smith's argument "wouldn't carry as much weight were this film set against a vastly wider range of women's stories, and characters in mainstream culture", but concluded with Dockterman's plea for the portrayal of "all sorts of women in our novels".
Tim Kroenert, of the Australian website Eureka Street wrote on October 8, 2014, that the film's predominant focus upon Nick's perspective "serves to obfuscate Amy's motives (though it is possible that she is simply a sociopath), and to amplify her personification of ... anti-women myths"; however, Kroenert concludes that ''Gone Girl'' is "a compelling rumination on the impossibility of knowing the mind of another, even within that ostensibly most intimate of relationships, marriage."
Media
The media is an important factor in the plot as it ultimately controls the narrative. The narrative that Nick is guilty for the disappearance of Amy is a direct result of his mishandled media appearances as well as the actual misinformation being told as "evidence" on the news. Whether or not Nick is actually guilty, the audience is led to believe he is through the media's manipulation. The role of the media in this film is to provide the conclusion that making snap judgements can be harmful and reveals the importance of carefully assessing situations before making decisions.
Manipulation
While almost all of the characters have ulterior motives to serve their own selfish needs, it is Amy who shows the most prevalent examples of manipulation throughout the story. Not only does Amy lie throughout the entirety of the film, she carefully calculates her plans and predicts behaviors of those around her, especially Nick, to attain her desired outcome and behaviors of those close to her. Amy's intelligence and knowledge of psychology also comes to her aid as she executes her plan; Amy is attractive and can be charismatic which leads people to assume she is innocent. As Nick begins to figure out Amy's plan, he uses manipulation tactics through the media to get Amy to return home. We know that he is disingenuous when he states that he was only "telling her
mywhat she wants to hear".
Potential sequel
In an interview in October 2014, Rosamund Pike stated she would return for a sequel if Gillian Flynn wrote the script. In January 2015, Flynn said she was open to the idea of a sequel, but said it would be "a few years down the road" when the original cast and crew would be available again.
See also
* "
Cool Girl
"Cool Girl" is a song recorded by Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo for her second studio album ''Lady Wood'' (2016). Lo co-wrote the song with its producers Jakob Jerlström and Ludvig Söderberg, who are known collectively as The Struts. The t ...
", a
Tove Lo
Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...
song inspired by the film
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Find Amazing Amypromotional website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gone Girl (Film)
2014 films
2010s English-language films
20th Century Fox films
2014 crime thriller films
2014 psychological thriller films
2014 thriller drama films
Adultery in films
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American psychological thriller films
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Fiction with unreliable narrators
Films about educators
Films about missing people
Films about murderers
Films about twins
Films about writers
Films based on American novels
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Films directed by David Fincher
Films produced by Reese Witherspoon
Films scored by Atticus Ross
Films scored by Trent Reznor
Films set in 2005
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Films shot in Missouri
American nonlinear narrative films
Regency Enterprises films
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2014 drama films
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2010s American films
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