The Girl On The Train (2016)

Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson

Director: Tate Taylor

Three women who all have issues around babies, find themselves linked when Rachel (Blunt), an obsessive and alcoholic, thinks she might be involved in a missing persons case. Rachel is unable to have children, which drove her to drinking and drove her husband into the arms of Anna (Ferguson) who has had a child with him and lives in the house that was his and Rachels. She has issues with childcare and giving up work, which brings Megan (Bennett) into their lives, the nanny who is terrified of having children, though her husband is pushing her to. But then Megan goes missing.

The title of the film comes from the fact that Rachel rides the train to Manhattan every day to cover the fact that she’s lost her job due to her drinking. On her ride she spies on her old house, where Anna lives, and see Megan whose life she obsessively fantasizes about.

What’s great about this film is that no one in it is very nice. (Actually, in all fairness, Rachels housemate seems like a decent girl, but she only has a small part) Everyone thinks their behaviour is justified or maybe they just like drama, but either way, they’re all lying, or barely concealing their rage and the truths about themselves. The performances are all really solid. (I really liked Bennett, she looks a bit like Jennifer Lawrence, I’ll be looking out for her in future)

The other great thing is that  there are so many twists in this film, it’s fun to piece it all together along with Rachel who suspects she knows something important about the night that Megan went missing, but she can’t remember because she blacked out drunk.

What’s not so great is that it just doesn’t all gel. A psychiatrist unrealistically getting involved with his patient, foreshadowing and character development that go nowhere, and twists that are so highly unlikely make it the stuff of pulp fiction. It’s all a bit hysterical, but it’s all in good fun.

See It If: you’re looking for an entertaining thriller. There are way better thrillers out there, but Blunt and her co-stars are fun to watch.