Ben Affleck, Rosemund Pike tackle realities of married life in ‘Gone Girl’

MANILA, Philippines- The page-turner tome “Gone Girl” is written by Gillian Flynn is about a woman gone missing on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary and marriage believed to be on the rocks. Its characters are brought to life by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike under the direction of David Fincher.

From the bestsellers’ shelves, Gone Girl reveals the real Mr. and Mrs. Dunne as they go through the motion of making their marriage work. Nick (Affleck) decides to move back to his hometown in Missouri from New York after being sacked as a print journalist, bringing his wife Amy (Pike) with him.

Embittered by his current state due to the advent of online publishing, the couple has slowly drifted apart, with Nick spending most of his time at a local bar he bought and manages, while Amy is mostly home and explores the community with a few newfound friends.

Unexpectedly, Nick’s sleepy town has awakened due to Amy’s sudden disappearance, what was left are confusing clues as to why and how his wife had gone missing. At the scene of the crime within the Dunne’s home are clear signs of struggle– shattered glasses and an overturned coffee table but there no signs of forced entry, leaving investigators to think that the prime suspect they’re looking for might be Nick.

In recent interviews, Pike stated that the movie will make people re-examine their thoughts, “that aspect of marriage as a con game, or whatever,” she said. “The idea that we perform a sort of ideal version of ourselves that the other person wants. We perhaps belie our true nature in order to perform to the ideal. David and I talked a lot about living in an age of rampant narcissism.”

Likewise, Affleck shared that “I actually think this is the perfect date movie, not because I think it’ll result in divorce– I think that’s just David’s fantasy– but because it’s the kind of movie that a husband and wife could talk about afterwards.

“I think a man and a woman would have different takes on what happens. The last time I was in a movie that I thought polarized men and women in an interesting way was ‘Chasing Amy.’ That was quite some time ago,” he said.

Gone Girl opens in cinemas nationwide on October 8 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.