The Girl on the Train movie review: A flip-flop between appalling and appealing
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Emily Blunt, Hailey Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Allison Janney, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Prepon.
A seemingly ideal marriage falls apart when a woman goes missing, and based on some confessions made in the past, her husband is suspected of being involved in her disappearance. Sounds like the plot of Gone Girl (2014)? Tate Taylor’s The Girl on the Train, based on Paula Hawkins’ 2015 bestseller of the same name, takes this further. This film begins with an alcoholic divorcee, Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), who, on her train journeys, fantasises about Megan and Scott Hipwell’s (Hailey Bennett and Luke Evans, respectively) charmed life, whose house she passes by every day, and embarks on her own investigation to uncover the truth behind Megan’s disappearance. Her life begins to crumble when she discovers that she is infertile and, guilt-ridden, becomes inseparable from vodka-martini. In flashbacks, it is revealed to us that her alcoholism leads to blackouts, and her then husband, Tom (Justin Theroux), narrates to her incidents of the previous day that Rachel has trouble recalling, most of which include outbursts of destructive rage. This leads to Rachel blaming herself for the end of her marriage with Tom, who cheats on her with their estate agent, Anna Boyd (Rebecca Ferguson).
With her husband gone, Rachel is unable to recover from her blackouts. Does she remember why she got off the train? Can she be sure of whom she met on the way? Did she witness a violent crime? Erin Cressida Wilson’s screenplay gives us a thoroughly fleshed out unreliable narrator who is as puzzled as the viewer about these questions.
The Girl on the Train is heavy on sex, mystery and lies; it is a palimpsest of deception, and begins on a promising note. No marriage in the film is perfect; infidelity, outright lies, and physical and emotional abuse plague this union. Rachel, crushed and dispirited after her divorce, often spends her time lurking around Tom and Anna’s home. The cinematography (Charlotte Bruus Christensen) lends a chilling atmosphere, to the point that it sometimes looks like a horror film.
In one scene, Anna recalls how she once saw Rachel standing in the backyard of her home, with Anna’s baby in her arms. The gorgeous natural landscape near the Hudson river, accompanied by mist and blue tint, bring to mind such films as The Ring. Rachel turns to face Anna, a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face, but one which also conveys something else — Rachel is creepy enough to get under your skin. Motherhood is a thread that somehow ties the three women together. Rachel wants a child but cannot conceive, Anna is scared for her daughter because Rachel might get her, and Megan has a secret past that withholds her from having a child. Anna and Megan’s physical resemblance — as pointed out in the film — is a well-made casting decision and does, indeed, trick one’s mind.
However, unlike Gone Girl, one can see the plot twist from a mile away. Taylor immediately loses control, and allows the initial sincerity to devolve into a melodramatic — even laughable — ending. It is not entirely appalling, but is not entirely appealing either. The only redemption is the gaunt and harrowed portrayal of Rachel by Emily Blunt, who looks for comfort in the bottom of her glass. Blunt could have been a contender during the upcoming award season, but only rarely ever enters the race with a film that can only be watched once.
