After writers Nick and Amy (Affleck and Pike) lose their jobs in New York, they relocate to Missouri to care for Nick's terminally ill mother. But after she dies, their marriage becomes stale. On their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing under suspicious circumstances, and the investigating officers (Dickens and Fugit) can't quite work out what happened. As the media begins to paint Nick as the villain, police suspicion naturally falls on him, bolstered by entries in Amy's secret journal. So Nick hires a high-powered lawyer (Perry), relying on his twin sister (Coon) for moral support.

As in her novel, Flynn's screenplay uses both Nick's and Amy's perspectives, although Nick's perspective is more central here. Fincher cements this by carefully depicting his isolation and confusion, contrasted with Amy's florid diary-entry flashbacks. So as the film transforms from a mystery into a thriller, there's no doubt who we're supposed to root for, even as the shifting power dynamic reveals shades of victimisation by the media, police, loved ones, stalkers and of course each other.

Affleck is perfectly cast as a conflicted man who's likeable and awkward, a superbly slippery presence at the film's centre. Meanwhile, Pike is astonishing as a woman who raises layers of questions in everything she says and does. Fincher has to work overtime to make her unreliable, because Pike's performance is a rabbit hole of motivations. There's also solid support from Harris (as Amy's stalker-like ex) and the superb double-act of Dickens and Fugit.

The best thing about the film is the way it gleefully exposes everyday horrors in even the happiest marriage, skilfully underscored by Fincher's precisely moody direction, with an unnerving score (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) as well as impeccable editing (by Kirk Baxter) that makes two and a half hours race by. As the tone continually morphs, Fincher settles in on the gothic-thriller elements, opting to chill us to the bone rather than make a meaningful comment on how society puts stress on a marriage. But he still leaves us both shaken and stirred.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

26.Sep.14