A Review of The Film 'Gone Girl'

The film “Gone Girl” was written by Gillian Flynn and directed by David Fincher, it follows the disappearance of Amy Dunne as she comes up missing on her fifth anniversary to Nick Dunne. Her husband becomes the main suspect since she’s vanished from their Missouri house with evidence claiming he could be guilty. The movie Gone Girl has a twist, with suspenseful turns throughout, carrying out how misleading the media can be, including relatable events, characters with secrets that all make the film captivating and entertaining.

The media carries out an essential role in the movie, starting with Amy’s parents going to the news as soon as possible after hearing about her disappearance. Also, the media already thought they knew Amy considering she’s been in the public eye ever since she was a child because her parents created a book called “Amazing Amy”. Next the news began focusing on Nick being a potential suspect since he kept making mistakes in the public eye that made people believe he was possibly guilty. After going on TV and talking, he changed the audience’s opinion of him. Nick said after an interview, “They disliked me, then they liked me. They hated me, and now they love me.” which was true because the people always changed their perception of him. On the other hand, some characters in the film had secrets of their own.

The characters in ‘Gone Girl’ all seem to be hiding the real version of themselves, starting with Amy she tried her whole life to live up to people’s expectations, especially her parents since they created a children’s book called “Amazing Amy”. Amy’s parents were both psychologists, whenever Amy would quit a sport, not even make the team, or stop playing an instrument as a child, ‘Amazing Amy’ would keep going and succeed. This way, ‘Amazing Amy’ could be more engaging, make smarter choices, and becomes a role model. Amy hides the fact that she’s a control freak with manipulative behavior. Throughout the movie she tells her story through her diary, where she manipulates the audience, and the cops to believe her. Meanwhile Nick tries to come off as a good guy, and he wants to be viewed as that. In the middle of the film, “good guy” Nick starts to ware off showing his self-centeredness. His mistress Andie goes public about her relationship with Nick, and people begin to believe he had a role in his wife’s disappearance. On the other hand, Nick and Amy both created fake versions of themselves for each other and their false reality. It shows that their marriage is built on lies and is toxic. Also, the couple Amy met on her little adventure that acted as they were her friends but robbed her instead. The only person who didn’t hide who they were was Nick’s twin Margo who went by ‘Go” who was the same throughout the movie.

The movie had lots of twists, which made it unexpected, beginning with Amy arranging her whole disappearance to get back at her husband. She read and studied lots of crime novels, creating her own crime scene in her home that looked half cleaned up. The fake crime scene she created that looked like a struggle, that would easily point to Nick, and it would be effortless for people to put it together. He was cheating on her, took her money, basically ruined her life, and she wasn’t going to let him move on after what he’s done to her. Toward the beginning of the movie, she no longer had control over him and her marriage, so she would act how he wanted her to but now that her plan worked out, she has control over him. Once Amy has power over him in the movie, she knows he’s not going anywhere because his image is ruined. Society labeled Amy as someone who was kidnapped, a victim, and a pregnant wife that got cheated on, while Nick was labeled as a cheater and a liar.

Overall, the movie “Gone Girl” is one of a kind for revenge, people aren’t always who they say they are, and the truth will always come out eventually. “Gone Girl” reminds us that not everything you see is what’s really going on behind the scenes, and especially how quickly the media can turn the public against you.     

Works Cited

1. Flynn, G. (2012). Gone Girl. Crown Publishing Group.
2. Fincher, D. (Director). (2014). Gone Girl [Motion Picture]. 20th Century Fox.
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