History Film / GoneGirl

''Gone Girl'' is the 2014 film adaptation of Creator/GillianFlynn's [[Literature/GoneGirl novel of the same name]], directed by Creator/DavidFincher and written by Flynn herself. It stars Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/RosamundPike as Nick and Amy Dunne, respectively, as well as Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as Desi Collings and Creator/TylerPerry as Tanner Bolt.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the film, Nick has a number of scenes that show him [[PetTheDog doting on the family cat, Bleecker]]. In the novel, Amy was the one who had all the affection for it.

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Amy suffers a small one after Greta and Jeff steal her money, angrily shrieking into a pillow.]]

* ContraceptionDeception: [[spoiler: As Nick was against having a child because "children don't always save marriages", Amy impregnates herself with Nick's sperm and uses this as a means to force Nick to stay trapped in an happy marriage facade with her.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: In-universe example. [[spoiler: Nick points out how convenient it is for Amy's diary to end with her saying she fears her husband will kill her. Boney thinks so too, it's part of the reason she never completely buys into the idea Nick killed Amy, despite the evidence backing it up.]]

* DetectEvil: [[spoiler:Margo's "Just because I don't like to be around Amy [...]" implies that she senses something about Amy that others may not.]]

* FadeToBlack: Many scenes end this way.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: "Any kids?" "Not yet!"]]

* NotHisSled: [[spoiler: Averted. Initial reports said Flynn had written a different ending for the film, but she and Fincher later walked back on those implications. The film's ending is the same as the novel's, minus the subtle alterations noted here.]]

* ShoutOut:
** Probably unintentional, but the scene where Nick shoves Amy and she hits her head on the bannister is strikingly similar to a scene in ''Film/{{Oliver}}'' when Bill Sykes does the same thing to Nancy, which becomes funny/ironic when you consider that [[spoiler: in the book, Amy picks the name Nancy specifically because it reminds her of the "abused woman" character she's pretending to be.]]
** Nick can be seen playing what is quite clearly ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' in one flashback segment.

* FadeToBlack: Many scenes fade out this way.

** In the movie, we get a short glimpse at [[Creator/NeilPatrickHarris Desi]]'s penis - [[spoiler:after he has had his throat slashed open, with his corpse covered in blood]].

* {{Jerkass}}

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Amy destroyed an ex-boyfriend's life for little reason. Put Nick through hell and now has him under her control, and murdered Desi. Yet she comes out of all this looking like a victim.]]

* MrFanservice: A likely unintentional one with Nick. Ben Affleck had started working out to play Batman and so is in very good shape, which the shower scene shows off (although the context of the scene makes it more of a FanDisservice).

''Gone Girl'' is the 2014 film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's [[Literature/GoneGirl novel of the same name]], directed by Creator/DavidFincher and written by Flynn herself. It stars Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/RosamundPike as Nick and Amy Dunne, respectively, as well as Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as Desi Collings and Creator/TylerPerry as Tanner Bolt.

* AbusiveParents: Amy's parents creating a fictional near-perfect child set a bar the real Amy could never reach and forced her to a life of being compared to her fictional self. When she goes missing the parents act more like their fictional daughter has disappeared, even naming the website after the fictional character.

The film's story follows Amy and Nick Dunne, whose seemingly happy marriage has culminated in the disappearance of Amy on the morning of their five-year anniversary. With the combined factors of an intense media-feeding frenzy and persistent police officers, Nick's picturesque image begins to crumble, and the spotlight turns on him when suspicions arise that he may not be as innocent as he's letting on...

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Amy successfully frames an ex-boyfriend for rape after he leaves her for another girl, landing him on the sex offender registry and ruining his life. It's her word versus his, only she's also faked some evidence. False rape accusations should scare everybody: innocent men can end up in jail and the phenomenon can lead to genuine accusations being disbelieved.]]

** Margo, for that matter, is described as quirky bordering on ugly (Nick says he has a thing for ugly women) and no amount of drab clothing or glasses can make Creator/CarrieCoon look like the sharp-featured, strange-faced woman described in the books. In a subtle nod, however, in her introductory scene, her hair is indeed pulled back with the "nerdy girl barrettes" described by Nick.

* AdultFear: Amy [[spoiler:successfully frames an ex-boyfriend for rape after he leaves her for another girl, landing him on the sex offenders register and ruining his life. It's her word versus his, only she's faked some evidence too.]] False rape accusations should scare everybody: innocent men can end up in jail and the phenomenon can lead to genuine accusations being disbelieved.
* AltoVillainess: [[spoiler: Amy, a very rare, speaking-only version of this trope. Rosamund Pike, as Amy, pitches her voice to be deep and almost husky -- contrast against her voice in ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'' or ''Film/AnEducation.'']]

* BaitAndSwitch: Early in the movie it seems like Amy's parents are throwing an engagement party for Amy and Nick. But it turns out to be a party for the fictional Amy and they berate the real one for not wearing white and going along with the party theme. [[spoiler: It's played with though as Nick actually does propose to her during the party, albeit in an unorthodox manner.]]

* BrokenAesop: Amy's ''Cool Girl'' speech about being true to yourself is undermined by the fact that she seems as honest with Nick in her flashbacks as she's ever with anyone. Therefore, her anger seems misplaced. Likewise, Amy is incredibly unhappy when she's left to be herself and quickly falls into old patterns in order to make friends. Not to mention that one woman in a car that she focuses on as a "Cool Girl" turns out to be sitting next to another woman, not a man. It undermines Amy's point that women only act in certain ways to draw male attention, as opposed to simply being the way humans act for each other. Of course, [[spoiler:given that Amy is a sociopath with narcissistic traits]], the Aesop-breaking is likely deliberate.

* CoincidentalBroadcast: Every time somebody switched the TV on, it shows a report related to the investigation. Possibly justified as Go prerecords Ellen Abbot's shows.

* DramaticIrony: Half-way through the movie, we learn what the truth behind Amy's disappearance while the public is kept in the dark.

** A scantily clad Rosamund Pike? [[FanService Good]]. A scantily clad Rosamund Pike [[spoiler:''covered in blood'']]? [[{{Squick}} Not so good]].
** The things Rosamund Pike does to her body and the ways she crawls around to spread blood everywhere is very disturbing.
* FanService: A flashback showing Nick going down on Amy.

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Around the 1 hour mark we get an InternalReveal and a switch of POV from Nick to Amy.

* MaleFrontalNudity: Creator/NeilPatrickHarris gets a fan-disserving one. Creator/BenAffleck has a blink-and-miss-it scene under the shower.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Flashback scenes of Nick and Amy's marriage show her with long hair, which is cut shorter before she disappears.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Nick's less sociopathic personality puts it more into this category. While there are those who are fully aware of everything Amy did, she planned things so perfectly that there is no proof, meaning she gets away scot free. She also gets herself pregnant in order to trap Nick in their marriage as he can't leave because he'll be once again painted as unsympathetic to those who believe all Amy's lies.]]
* DramaticIrony: Half-way through the movie we learn what really happened while the public is kept in the dark.

The film's story follows the Dunnes, whose seemingly happy marriage has culminated in the disappearance of Amy on the morning of their five-year anniversary. With the combined factors of an intense media-feeding frenzy and persistent police officers, Nick's picturesque image begins to crumble, and the spotlight turns on him when suspicions arise that he may not be as innocent as he's letting on...

The film's story follows the Dunnes, whose seemingly-happy marriage has culminated in the disappearance of Amy on the morning of their five-year anniversary. With the combined factors of an intense media feeding frenzy and persistent police officers, Nick's picturesque image begins to crumble, and the spotlight turns on him when suspicions arise that he may not be as innocent as he's letting on...

* BaitAndSwitch: Early in the movie it seems like Amy’s parents are throwing an engagement party for Amy and Nick. But it turns out to be a party for the fictional Amy and they berate the real one for not wearing white and going along with the party theme. [[spoiler: It’s played with though as Nick actually does propose to her during the party, albeit in an unorthodox manner.]]

** [[spoiler:It’s pretty convenient for Amy that Desi lives in St. Louis and has an isolated lake house where she can stay for awhile after her plan is turned upside down by having all her money robbed.]]

* HollywoodGeography: The movie takes place in Carthage Missouri, but was filmed in Cape Girardeau which is on the other side of the state. What’s egregious is that the movie constantly talks about the events taking place on the Mississippi River, being two hours from St. Louis, and prominently showing the distinctive Bill Emerson Bridge. Carthage does not sit on a major river, is about 4 hours from St. Louis, and about 200 miles from the Mississippi River.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Amy destroyed an ex-boyfriend’s life for little reason. Put Nick through hell and now has him under her control, and murdered Desi. Yet she comes out of all this looking like a victim.]]

** They also apparently aren’t going to investigate Desi’s movements during the days Amy was missing. For all they know he has an airtight alibi on the day she claims he took her. Also tracking him during the days she was missing would’ve revealed that he was at the Casino (places with the most surveillance in the world) with Amy clearly not against her will.
** When Nick makes the obvious point that if she was being held prisoner then how did she get a box cutter? Officer Gilpin just asks; “why can’t you just be happy that your wife is back.”

''Gone Girl'' is a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's [[Literature/GoneGirl novel of the same name]], directed by Creator/DavidFincher and written by Flynn herself. It stars Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/RosamundPike as Nick and Amy Dunne, respectively, as well as Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as Desi Collings and Creator/TylerPerry as Tanner Bolt.

** It’s pretty convenient for Amy that Desi lives in St. Louis and has an isolated lake house where she can stay for awhile after her plan is turned upside down by having all her money robbed.

* ExactWords: [[spoiler: Margo accidentally predicts Amy's return before Amy even knows what she's going to do.]]

* {{Bookends}}: Both the first and last scenes of the movie are a POV shot of Nick stroking Amy's hair while giving a monologue about the "primal questions of a marriage", before Amy turns to look right at the camera. There is, however, one key difference between the two shots. [[spoiler:In the first, Amy looks surprised, innocent, and even vulnerable. In the last, her surprise quickly fades, and she simply ''smirks''.]]

** And for that matter, Desi. Desi definitely comes across as offbeat in the movie, [[spoiler: especially when he practically gives rapey vibes to Amy and the audience,]] but he's basically a devoted schmuck who is so in love with Amy that [[spoiler: he'll believe her entire set-up and even be complicit in the cover-up, genuinely believing it's the best thing to do.]] But in the book? Ohhh boy. [[spoiler: Desi is essentially the possessive, emotionally manipulative boyfriend that Amy ironically painted him out to be all those years ago. He financially abuses her and essentially holds her captive at his home, explicitly threatening to go to the cops if she leaves. He puts her on a strict diet because he can't stand the weight that Amy's gained and basically grooms her into a perfect, thin, blonde wife. While you still feel pretty bad for him when he gets killed in the most brutal way,]] book-Desi is definitely just as much in the GrayAndGreyMorality heap as Nick and Amy.