The Girl on the Train (2016 film)

The Girl on the Train
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tate Taylor
Produced by	Marc Platt
Screenplay by	Erin Cressida Wilson
Based on	The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Starring	Emily Blunt Rebecca Ferguson Haley Bennett Justin Theroux Luke Evans Allison Janney Édgar Ramírez Lisa Kudrow
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Edited by	Michael McCusker Andrew Buckland
Production company	DreamWorks Pictures Reliance Entertainment Marc Platt Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	September 20, 2016 (2016-09-20) (Odeon Leicester Square) October 7, 2016 (2016-10-07) (United States)
Running time	112 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$45 million[2]
Box office	$168.5 million[2]

The Girl on the Train is a 2016 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Tate Taylor and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on Paula Hawkins' 2015 debut novel of the same name. The film stars Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Édgar Ramírez, and Lisa Kudrow, and follows an alcoholic divorcée who becomes involved in a missing persons investigation.

Principal photography began on November 4, 2015 in New York City. Produced by Marc Platt and DreamWorks Pictures, The Girl on the Train was the first DreamWorks Pictures film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, as part of DreamWorks' new distribution deal.^[3] It premiered in London on September 20, 2016 and was theatrically released in the United States on October 7, 2016.^[4] The film received mixed reviews and has grossed $168 million worldwide.

Plot

Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) is an alcoholic who divorced her husband, Tom Watson (Justin Theroux), after catching him cheating on her with their real estate agent, Anna Boyd (Rebecca Ferguson). During their marriage, Rachel was prone to alcohol-induced blackouts during which she engaged in self-destructive behavior that she only later learned about from Tom, and to which she attributes the ending of their marriage, in addition to her being sterile.

Rachel shares an apartment with her friend Cathy (Laura Prepon) and spends her days commuting on a train, often stalking Tom, Anna, and their newborn daughter Evie. During her trips, Rachel grows fascinated with Tom's neighbors, Scott (Luke Evans) and Megan Hipwell (Haley Bennett), a young couple in what Rachel believes is a perfect marriage. In reality, Scott is aggressive and controlling, while Megan is detached and unfaithful, maintaining affairs with numerous men, including her psychiatrist, Dr. Kamal Abdic (Édgar Ramírez).

While passing by the neighborhood one day, Rachel spots Megan kissing Abdic on her balcony and becomes infuriated by what she perceives as Megan's ruining her "perfect" marriage. After a drinking binge, Rachel leaves the train to confront Megan, only to black out and awaken hours later at her apartment, injured. Rachel later finds out that Megan is missing and presumed dead, and is questioned by Detective Sergeant Riley (Allison Janney), who suspects Rachel might be involved due to her recent erratic behavior.

Rachel, pretending to be a friend of Megan's, approaches Scott and tells him about Megan's affair. Scott identifies Abdic as Megan's lover. Believing Abdic is behind Megan's disappearance, Rachel schedules an appointment with him, wherein they discuss Rachel's troubled relationship with Tom, particularly an incident in which she lashed out at an office party and aggravated Tom's boss's wife Martha (Lisa Kudrow), leading to Tom being fired.

At a bar, Rachel recognizes another commuter, who reveals that he followed her when she left the train the night that Megan disappeared and heard her cursing at a woman. The commuter later found Rachel unconscious in a tunnel, having been severely beaten by an unseen figure, but she aggressively declined his help. Rachel returns to the tunnel and recalls seeing Megan with Tom and shouting at her before being ambushed. Meanwhile, Anna becomes suspicious of Tom after Sgt. Riley suggests that he is encouraging Rachel's behavior by keeping in touch with her. Anna attempts to hack into Tom's computer and in the process, she finds a secret phone with several voice messages to another woman Tom is having an affair with, later verifying that the phone was Megan's.

Megan is found dead and forensics determine she was pregnant, but the child was neither Scott's nor Abdic's. Scott becomes a suspect and confronts Rachel, believing she is conspiring against him, and in the process reveals he assaulted Megan prior to her death. Rachel runs into Martha and apologizes for her behavior at the party, only to discover she didn't lash out or get Tom fired, but rather Tom was fired for having sexual relations with numerous co-workers. Rachel realizes Tom planted false memories in her head to account for his own abusive behavior.

Anna identifies the woman Tom was exchanging phone calls with as Megan, and finds out Tom and Megan were having an affair. Rachel realizes Megan was pregnant with Tom's baby and confided that to Abdic, leading to Rachel misinterpreting the nature of their encounter on the balcony. After leaving the train that day, Rachel caught Tom meeting with Megan and shouted at her, mistaking her for Anna. Tom then beat Rachel before returning to Megan, who announced she was keeping the baby. Realizing this would expose their affair, Tom murdered Megan.

Rachel goes to Tom's house to warn Anna, but Anna reveals that she already knows. Tom arrives and Rachel confronts him. As Tom and Rachel argue Anna reveals she found Megan's phone. Tom then carries Evie as a fearful Anna pleads for him to give her the baby while Rachel tries to dial 911. Tom takes the phone from Rachel and tells her to sit down. She begins to tell him how she now knows of all his wrong doings and false accusations. Tom then knocks Rachel unconscious as a flashback showing how he killed Megan plays. When Rachel regains consciousness Tom tells her he wished she would have just stayed away for that one night. Rachel tries to run out of the house grabbing a corkscrew on her way out. Tom catches up to her and attempts to strangle her, but she hits him with a lamp and tries run again. Now outside the house Tom catches up to Rachel but this time she stabs him in the neck with the corkscrew as Anna watches from the window. Anna then exits the house and pushes the corkscrew deeper into Tom's neck, finishing him off.

Rachel and Anna come to an understanding and separately confirm to the police that Rachel killed Tom in self-defense, after he revealed himself to be Megan's killer. One year later, Rachel has become sober and found a new job, and while still commuting on the same train, she now sits on the opposite side in a different car, leaving her old neighborhood in the past.

Cast

• Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson
• Haley Bennett as Megan Hipwell
• Rebecca Ferguson as Anna Watson
• Justin Theroux as Tom Watson
• Luke Evans as Scott Hipwell
• Allison Janney as Detective Sgt. Riley
• Édgar Ramírez as Dr. Kamal Abdic
• Lisa Kudrow as Martha
• Laura Prepon as Cathy
• Darren Goldstein as Man In The Suit

Production

On March 24, 2014, DreamWorks Pictures acquired the film rights to Paula Hawkins's debut novel, The Girl on the Train, which Marc E. Platt was set to produce through Marc Platt Productions.^[5] On January 13, 2015, Erin Cressida Wilson was hired to write the script for the film.^[6] On May 21, 2015, DreamWorks hired Tate Taylor to direct the film.^[7] On June 4, 2015, TheWrap reported that Emily Blunt was offered for the title role, the lonely and alcoholic divorcee Rachel.^[8] The studio had eyed Kate Mara for another of the three lead roles.^[8] In July 2015, the book's author Hawkins told The Sunday Times that the film's setting would be moved from London to Westchester, New York.^[9] On August 18, 2015, Deadline.com confirmed that Rebecca Ferguson was cast in the film to play Anna, one of three roles, along with Blunt.^[10] On August 24, 2015, Haley Bennett was added to the cast to play the third female lead role, Megan.^[11]

On September 21, 2015, it was reported that Jared Leto and Chris Evans were in talks to join the film, where Evans would play Tom, Rachel's ex-husband, and Leto would play the neighbor's husband.^[12] On October 22, 2015, Édgar Ramírez joined the film to play Dr. Kamal Abdic, who is in an affair with the married Megan, and becomes a suspect in her disappearance.^[13] On October 27, 2015, Justin Theroux was cast in the film to play Tom, replacing Evans, who left the film due to a scheduling conflict.^[14] On October 28, 2015, Variety reported that Allison Janney had joined the film's cast to play a police detective.^[15] On November 3, 2015, Lisa Kudrow was cast in the film to play Martha, a former co-worker of Tom.^[16] On November 4, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Luke Evans had replaced Leto, who left the film due to a scheduling issue.^[17] On January 7, 2016, it was announced that Laura Prepon had joined the cast as Cathy, the landlord, roommate, and college friend of Rachel Watson.^[18]

Filming

The Ardsley-on-Hudson Metro-North station, used for several scenes in the film

Principal photography on the film began on November 4, 2015, in New York City.^[19][20] In late November 2015, filming also took place in White Plains,^[21] as well as in Hastings-on-Hudson and Irvington, New York.^[22] Filming wrapped up on January 30, 2016.^[23]

Post-production

During post-production on the film, Paula Hawkins's cameo was cut.^[24]

Release

In November 2015, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures scheduled the film for an October 7, 2016, release through their Touchstone Pictures banner.^[25][26][27] The film was part of DreamWorks' distribution deal with Walt Disney Studios, which began in 2009. However, DreamWorks and Disney did not renew their distribution deal, and in December 2015, Universal Pictures acquired the film's distribution rights, as part of their new distribution deal with DreamWorks' parent company, Amblin Partners.^[28] Universal retained Disney's original release date.^[4] Universal is also distributing overseas, except in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where distribution is handled by Mister Smith Entertainment through other industries.^[29] Entertainment One released the film in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2016.^[1]

Reception

Box office

As of December 4, 2016, The Girl on the Train has grossed $75.1 million in the United States and Canada and $93.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $168.6 million, against a production budget of $45 million.^[2]

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross around $25-$30 million in its opening weekend, although some had it opening to a lower $18 million. The film was expected to play like the similarly-themed Gone Girl, which opened to $37.5 million in October 2014, although that film had more star power to carry it.^[30][31] It went on to gross $24.5 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office.^[32] In its second weekend it grossed $12 million (a 51% drop), finishing third at the box office.^[33]

Critical response

The Girl on the Train received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 44%, based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Emily Blunt's outstanding performance isn't enough to keep The Girl on the Train from sliding sluggishly into exploitative melodrama."^[34] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[35] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average "B–" on an A+ to F scale.^[36]

IGN critic Terri Schwartz gave the film a score of 5.5/10, writing: "The Girl on the Train has a talented cast, but ultimately squanders it for the sake of a hollow, ponderous plot. Alternately overly convoluted and predictable, the film relies too heavily on its twists while offering little in the way of character development, leaving its three central women as unrelatable and unlikable stereotypes."^[37] Chicago Sun-Times' Richard Roeper gave 2 stars out 4, and said that the film is "shiny trash that begins with promise but quickly gets tripped up by its own screenplay and grows increasingly ludicrous and melodramatic, to the point where I was barely able to suppress a chuckle at some of the final scenes."^[38] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave 1½ stars out of 4, and described the film as, "a flat and suspense-free tale of pretty people in peril."^[39]

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers gave a positive review, commenting that: "[T]he movie gives away the game faster than the novel, but Emily Blunt digs so deep into the role of a blackout drunk and maybe murderer that she raises Girl to the level of spellbinder."^[40]

References

External links

• Official website
• The Girl on the Train at the Internet Movie Database