The Girl on the Train is based on the novel by Paula Hawkins; the location however, has been changed from London to New York state.
Emily Blunt gives a good performance of Rachel Watson, who is a very troubled alcoholic. Rachel daily commutes to Manhattan on the train to her place of work, or so we believe! The journey takes her past a set of houses and she fantasises about one particular house which is occupied by Scott and Megan. She believes they have the perfect relationship and they are so in love with each other, Rachel becomes obsessed with their life. Only a few doors away from Scott and Megan lives Rachel’s ex-husband Tom, with his new wife Anna and their baby, in the home Rachel previously shared with Tom. The story focuses around the sudden disappearance of Megan, for which Rachel herself could have been responsible.
Throughout the film, we encounter a series of first person narratives from Rachel, Megan and Anna. There are also a numerous ‘flash-backs’; this can be quite confusing sometimes and tend to interrupt the general flow of the film. It becomes apparent later however, that the first half of the film was actually setting the scene and the remainder is set to have a tense, Hitchcock-style psychological thriller feel. This type of theme would imply a twist – as indeed there could be!
A slow start initially, however the film delivers on its promise to be a ‘whodunnit-style’ thriller, with teasing twists. I would definitely recommend this film.
Amanda Sherrington