The Girl on the Train | What to Watch

As an alcoholic divorcee, Emily Blunt is in for a bumpy ride in this twisting thriller based on Paula Hawkins' bestseller

As an alcoholic divorcee, Emily Blunt is in for a bumpy ride in this twisting thriller based on Paula Hawkins' bestseller.

It proves a gripping psychological mystery on screen, notwithstanding a change of setting from the London suburbs to New York state and a heroine who is far prettier than the book's overweight sad sack.

Yet Blunt's Rachel remains a prickly, sympathy-challenging protagonist, a self-loathing drunk still reeling from the break-up of her marriage (Justin Theroux plays her ex) and sent into an even greater tailspin when she is drawn into the disappearance of a woman (Haley Bennett).

This film may lack the devious surprises that mark out the very best thrillers, but director Tate Taylor does an effective job of juggling the story's different time frames and points of view - Rachel's, her ex's new wife (Rebecca Ferguson) and the missing woman.

Best of all is the brilliant Blunt, who takes us somewhere we'd rather not go - inside Rachel's woozy, confused mind.