10 years ago, one of our greatest working filmmakers (David Fincher) teamed up with one of the biggest stars in the world (Ben Affleck), and the result was a career high point for both of them. That film was Gone Girl, adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name, and when it hit the big screen in 2014, it became one of the year’s most talked about movies. While audiences had high hopes thanks to the pedigree on display, many were still taken aback by the psychological thriller, with a plot twist for the ages and incredible performances from Affleck and Rosamund Pike (who got an Oscar nomination).

Even 10 years later, Gone Girl holds up remarkably well, as it effortlessly blends David Fincher’s trademark lurid aesthetic and dark humor with Gillian Flynn’s biting satire. It’s a sick, pulpy delight from top to bottom, and since it’s celebrating its 10th anniversary, it’s well worth a rewatch.

Release Date October 1, 2014 Runtime 145

Gone Girl Is Unpredictable in Its Twists and Turns

Gone Girl starts out simple enough — writing teacher Nick Dunne (Affleck, but originally set to be played by Jon Hamm) returns home one afternoon to find his wife Amy (Pike) missing. As the local law enforcement searches for Amy, the apathetic-by-nature Nick finds himself struggling with near-constant press coverage and interviews (Amy was the inspiration for a series of best-selling novels written by her parents).

Flashbacks throughout the first half of the film hint that Nick’s marriage to Amy was anything but the picture-perfect relationship they had on the surface. After both of them lost their jobs in the recession, Nick forced Amy to move with him from New York to Missouri so he could look after his dying mother. Eventually, their relationship deteriorated to the point where Nick began having an affair with one of his students.

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As these cracks in the surface reveal themselves to the audience, they also manifest in the world of the film. Nick’s aloof nature and seeming indifference towards Amy’s disappearance earns him ire from the public, while the forensic team uncovers evidence that paints him as the most obvious suspect. Nick is forced to hire a big-shot lawyer (Tyler Perry) while the loose ends in the case start to converge, the most intriguing of which involves Desi Collins (Neil Patrick Harris, playing brilliantly against type), an ex-boyfriend of Amy’s.

The big plot twist, which occurs roughly midway through the runtime, has become so common knowledge that most already know it, but to preserve the discovery for first-time viewers, we won’t spoil it here. But suffice it to say that it completely upends the viewers’ perception of everything they’d seen prior and forces them to question their sympathies for a couple that now looks utterly toxic. A huge part of the delight in watching Gone Girl comes from navigating the constant twists and turns, even more so because they almost never feel like a cheat and allow Fincher and the viewer to explore and revel in the darkest corners of personal relationships.

Gone Girl Nails a Tricky Tone Balance (And Is Beautifully Crafted)

When Gone Girl was first released, it caused a lot of heated debate among viewers. While most agreed it was a biting satire of relationship dynamics and gender roles, a vocal minority felt the film fell into the same stereotypes it sought to tear down, particularly with the female characters. But this debate arguably only proves Flynn’s satirical point; she identifies as a feminist, and in a 2013 interview with The Guardian, she stated, “That puts a very, very small window on what feminism is. Is it really only girl power, and you-go-girl, and empower yourself, and be the best you can be? For me, it’s also the ability to have women who are bad characters… the one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately good, innately nurturing.”

Helping matters is how perfectly Fincher navigates the story’s tricky tone. For a director so well known for disturbing psychological thrillers (and Gone Girl was advertised as such), what’s surprising about the film is how funny it is. Fincher’s work has always had a pitch-black sense of humor (namely Fight Club and last year’s The Killer), and this acidic wit helps Gone Girl from feeling like another self-serious domestic thriller. Since many plot twists admittedly require suspension of disbelief, Fincher wisely plays up the story’s campy elements, allowing the viewer to excuse some of the leaps in logic. As such, when a character gets his throat slit late in the runtime, resulting in a comically large eruption of blood, it’s just as hilarious as it is disgusting.

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Obviously, David Fincher has always been a master of his technical craft, and Gone Girl is no exception. The now-trademark yellow-green fluorescent hues he uses in his cinematography serve the lurid tone of the story perfectly, while the editing keeps the plot moving at an engaging pace and builds suspense. In addition, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score, as always, is appropriately dark and unsettling.

But at the end of the day, it’s the cast that truly makes Gone Girl sing. Neil Patrick Harris, best known for his comedic performances, gets what’s easily the creepiest role of his career and crushes it, and Tyler Perry has never been sharper or funnier than he is here. Meanwhile, Ben Affleck is asked to be simultaneously pitiable and unlikable, and he nails that balance in one of his best performances ever. But the true MVP is Rosamund Pike as Amy, who plays as an enigma for most of the first half. When her true machinations are revealed at the halfway mark, the story would fall apart if Pike didn’t deliver, and Pike more than delivers. It’s a revelatory performance.

Gone Girl Is a High Mark for Affleck and Fincher

All of this results in a high-watermark for Affleck, Fincher, and maybe the entire domestic thriller genre. On almost all counts, from the unpredictable twisting plot to the flawless performances to the technical perfection and darkly comic wit, it’s a resounding success, maybe one of the sickest delights in a career as esteemed as Fincher’s.

Suffice it to say, Gone Girl holds up remarkably well a decade later and is well worth a rewatch. Gone Girl is available to rent on Apple TV and Prime Video.