The Girl on the Train (2016)

Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train takes mostly takes place in a village near New York City. The characters involved in the central plot live right next to New York's Metro-North railway line. They are within walking distance of the Ardsley-on-Hudson station.

The story focuses on three women. Megan (Haley Bennett) is a married woman. Her husband insists on them having a child and this frustrates her to no end as she is not ready to have one.

Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) is the new wife to Rachel's ex-husband. Things started off as an affair between the two and it's possible that the cycle is repeating itself.

Rachel (Emily Blunt) is an alcoholic. She had the "perfect" life until alcoholism ruined her marriage and now she must see her husband's' new happy family every time she commutes into the city.

Rachel's life is now miserable. She is struggling with her alcoholism, living in her friend's spare room, and commuting into the city in order to seem like she has a job she lost a year ago due to her drinking. Megan lives two doors down from Rachel's old home and during her commute she gets glimpses into Megan's life. She can compare the life she thinks Megan and her husband have while constantly being reminded of the life she used to have with ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux).

Movie poster for The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train is based off of Paula Hawkins' novel of the same name and is directed by Tate Taylor (The Help). It's hard not to compare this film to Gone Girl as they are similar. They both feature a missing woman (Megan) and an unreliable narrator (Rachel).

Rachel is the main character and having no recollection of the night Megan disappears, she struggles with the idea that she may somehow be involved in her disappearance. The flow of the narrative takes some getting used to, but once the story gets rolling it does become more interesting. We discover that Megan's husband is emotionally abusive and there is also the possibility she was sleeping with her therapist (Edgar Ramirez). While the film is thrilling for the most part, it's easy to figure out the culprit and it's not as suspenseful as it can be.

The film seems to focus more on the women and the roles they are expected to perform in their lives and how they deal with those failures. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it would be more interesting to focus on either those feelings or the disappearance.

Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train

Justin Theroux does an okay job at being the object of Anna and Rachel's desires. He's sweet, but you never quite trust him. His performance wasn't subtle enough for me.

In the end though the main villains end up being the women. Megan doesn't fit in with the other women of the community. Anna started off as Tom's mistress and has no problem becoming his new wife in the home he Rachel had together. Anna also turns on Megan once she quits as Anna's nanny. Rachel hates herself and her life.

Blunt is fantastic, as always, in this role. She is a mess and she captures Rachel's essence perfectly. She drinks to forget her problems, hates herself for doing so, then drinks some more to forget that she hates herself. She captures Rachel's ache for the life she once had and the life the thinks Megan has. She is hands down the best part of the film.