Review of The Girl on the Train (2016) by Evan K — 13 Jan 2017

This is the perfect example of a story that probably works really well as a book but as a film lacks the tension , the suspense and the gloomy atmosphere of similar thrillers. Gone Girl by David Fincher, a few years ago was really well done (in my opinion) and remained suspenseful till the end.

Here the film feels a little slow, a little boring in the middle before it finally lifts up a bit and becomes more biting but it's already too late and the film ends up feeling like a half cooked dish.

Emily Blunt gives a solid performance, looking pretty lost, as a young divorce who's found refuge in drinking while riding the train back and forth everyday. Slowly the story explains her background and what drove her to sink into alcoholism.

Tate Taylor handles the film with a bit of a heavy hand, delivering a film that sometimes feels more funny than scary with a few scenes intended to be highly dramatic but falling flat. It's not a bad film, it's still pretty entertaining all along but it really lack a stronger 'mise-en-scene' and maybe a different editing pace because as it is, the film feels almost too much like an open journal that one reads aloud as the action unfold on screen, rather than yes, a movie.