Emily Blunt's riveting performance keeps this adaptation of Paula Hawkins' bestselling amnesia thriller on track.
Paula Hawkins’ bestselling amnesia thriller The Girl on the Train proves a gripping psychological mystery on screen, notwithstanding a change of setting from London to New York and a heroine who is far prettier than the book’s overweight alcoholic sad sack.
Yet Emily Blunt’s Rachel remains a prickly, sympathy-challenging protagonist, a self-loathing drunk still reeling from the smash of her marriage and sent into an even greater tailspin when she is drawn into the disappearance of a beautiful young woman (Haley Bennett).
The Girl on the Train lacks the steel-trap tension and satirical bite of Gone Girl, that other recent ‘Girl’ bestseller turned screen thriller, but director Tate Taylor does an effective job of juggling the story’s different time frames and different points of view – Rachel’s, her ex’s new wife (Rebecca Ferguson) and the missing woman. And he gets striking performances from a cast that also includes Justin Theroux and Luke Evans.
Best of all is the brilliant Blunt, who takes us somewhere we’d rather not go - inside Rachel’s woozy, troubled mind.
Certificate 15. Runtime 112 mins. Director Tate Taylor
The Girl on the Train is available on Digital Download from 30 January and Blu-ray & DVD from 6 February.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P20brfPao94
Blu-ray & DVD extras:
- Feature Commentary with director Tate Taylor
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
