My attempt to read Gillian Flynn’s mega-opus Gone Girl was, at best, halfhearted. I like books that end in a marriage, not begin with the end of one. So when Gone Girl‘s film adaptation was announced I thought, “sorry Ben Affleck, but Jane Austen has gotten me this far”. That being said, I did in fact end up seeing this movie during it’s opening weekend. What can I say, what I lack in conviction I make up for in plenty of free time to see movies I previously determined not to see.

And you know what? I totally dug it. Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, the husband of missing Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). Suspicions fall to Nick because apparently most cops are overly familiar with Law and Order and he does, objectively, seem super guilty. And although the audience is clued-in pretty early, it doesn’t make the unfolding of events any less thrilling. And freaky. Think Double Indemnity meets American Psycho meets The Scapegoat. Clear as mud?

Affleck may be the the film’s biggest name but the real star here is Pike. For reasons I can’t explain without initiating a spoiler avalanche, her performance as Amy is insane, in every sense of the word. This lady is by no means an angel, although we can see how capable she is of perpetuating that myth. Getting to watch the game of psychological ping-pong between Adorable Amy and Demented Amy is a reason in itself to brave going out into the balmy October clime to see it in theaters. Which I recommend, because fictitious or not, insulting Amy Dunne seems like a categorically bad idea.

–Whitney