7 Movies You Have To Watch If You Liked Gone Girl

This article contains discussions of addiction, mass violence, mental health, sexual assault, and suicide.

In 2014, acclaimed director David Fincher released his adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s hit novel “Gone Girl,” and whether he meant to or not, he — and Flynn, who adapted her own novel for the screen — ushered in a new genre, albeit a very niche one. Soon, tons of novels and books focused on good girls gone bad, unreliable female narrators, mysteries with huge twists halfway through, or some combination of the three, which makes sense when you consider the fact that “Gone Girl” earned massive critical acclaim and proved to be a solid hit at the box office to boot.

As a quick refresher, “Gone Girl” opens as Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) prepares to celebrate his five-year wedding anniversary with his wife Amy Elliott Dunne (Rosamund Pike), only to discover a disturbing scene in their house … and no Amy to be found. The story that unravels from that point intersperses Amy’s diary entries from the earliest days of their relationship with Nick’s desperate, fumbling search for his missing wife — even as he becomes the main suspect in her disappearance. Amy is definitely an anti-hero — and, frankly, a psychopath — but she’s undeniably fascinating, and when the Amy-centric twist hits, you’ll be absolutely flabbergasted (if it’s your first time watching the movie, that is). Whether you’re rewatching “Gone Girl” for the millionth time or just checked it out after all these years, what should you watch next? From Fincher’s other movies to films undeniably inspired by “Gone Girl,” here are a few suggestions.

Like “Gone Girl,” the 2022 Netflix film “Luckiest Girl Alive” is adapted from a bestselling novel … and it also brought the book’s author, Jessica Knoll, on board as the main screenwriter. Directed by Mike Barker and produced by its leading lady Mila Kunis, “Luckiest Girl Alive” stars Kunis as Tifani “Ani” Fanelli, a successful magazine editor living her dream life in New York — complete with a handsome and wealthy fiancé, Luke Harrison (Finn Wittrock) — who has to face her troubled past when documentary filmmaker Aaron Wickersham (Dalmar Abuzeid) approaches her about her high school years. While Ani attended high school at the upscale, prestigious Bentley School, she experienced a deeply traumatic sexual assault at the hands of three of her classmates; in the horrible aftermath of Ani’s assault, one of her classmates and only friends, Arthur Finneman (Thomas Barbusca), committed a school shooting that leaves multiple teenagers injured or dead.

By switching between Ani in the present day and her as a teenager — played by Chiara Aurelia, best known for the series “Cruel Summer” — the movie paints the fullest possible picture of a woman who’s struggling to leave her past behind, and even if you know the horrors that befall Ani and her high school, you’ll still be plenty shocked by the rest of the film’s twists and turns. Ani definitely isn’t a psychopath like Amy Elliott Dunne — so even though the vibe is similar to “Gone Girl,” you’ll actually want to root for the protagonist this time.

Adapted from yet another hit novel — this one by Paula Hawkins — Tate Taylor’s 2016 film “The Girl on the Train” is probably the first major descendant of “Gone Girl,” using both an unreliable narrator and sticking the word “girl” right there in the title. Both Hawkins’ book and Taylor’s movie focus on struggling alcoholic Rachel Watson — played on-screen by Emily Blunt — who spends her days aimlessly riding a train back and forth from her home to “the city,” despite the fact that she doesn’t have a job. (While the book takes places in the London area, the movie moves the action to New York City.) While on board the train, Rachel watches a young couple — Scott and Megan Hipwell, played by Luke Evans and Haley Bennett — live what appear to be idyllic lives, and also keeps a close eye on her own ex-husband Tom Watson (Justin Theroux) and his new wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) raise their young daughter. When Megan disappears, Rachel gets way too involved in the investigation … but due to her constant overconsumption and the fact that Tom has led a smear campaign against her, nobody believes her, and her mental health severely deterioriates as a result.

Just like “Gone Girl,” “The Girl on the Train” builds up an intense ending with a ton of twists and turns … and like “Gone Girl,” it’s ultimately revealed that while Rachel might not be the most reliable witness of all time, Tom isn’t exactly a shining beacon of honesty either. If you’re looking for another movie where nobody is quite who they seem, “The Girl on the Train” is for you.

To be fair, Paul Feig’s 2018 film “A Simple Favor” is a lot campier and sillier than “Gone Girl” — but it’s a ton of fun and also features a suspicious disappearance that hides some sort of larger secret. We first meet Anna Kendrick’s “mommy blogger” Stephanie Smothers, who is completely overwhelmed when she meets the effortlessly cool, Christian Louboutin-clad Emily Nelson (Blake Lively, having an outrageous amount of fun) while they both pick up their young sons from school. Inexplicably, Emily and Stephanie hit it off and become friends while sharing many, many gin martinis, so when Emily suddenly leaves town and asks Stephanie to watch her son Nicky (Ian Ho), Stephanie thinks little of it. After a few days, though, Stephanie starts to worry, as does Emily’s handsome novelist husband Sean Townsend (Henry Golding); the truth is a lot darker than Stephanie can possibly imagine at first, and even while she starts a romantic relationship with Sean, she tries to uncover the truth about Emily.

“A Simple Favor” is a deliciously over-the-top ride, and both Lively and Kendrick are at their absolute best here, with Kendrick excelling at the “goody two-shoes” role and Lively playing the kind of “cool girl” that Amy Elliott Dunne monologued about in “Gone Girl.” If you feel like it, pair “A Simple Favor” with an ice-cold gin martini — it’s a perfect combination.

Stieg Larsson’s hit 2005 novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was actually adapted into two very different movies — a Swedish-language version in 2009 with Noomi Rapace as the hardcore hacker Lisbeth Salander, and David Fincher’s take on Larsson’s book with Rooney Mara as Lisbeth that released in 2011. Since Fincher also helmed “Gone Girl,” we’ll focus on his version for this list (though you should definitely check out the Swedish version if you have the time).

Alongside Lisbeth — a traumatized, steely woman who has faced decades of sexual violence and abuse — the movie introduces us to Daniel Craig’s Mikael Blomkvist, who agrees to help the wealthy businessman Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) track down his missing granddaughter. (Mikael’s reputation has been ruined by another businessman, Ulf Friberg’s Hans-Erik Wennerström, and Henrik has incriminating inforrmation on Hans-Erik that could help Mikael bring him down.) In the process, Mikael meets Lisbeth, and the two form an uneasy alliance — and even a romantic connection — while Lisbeth helps him research and look for Harriet Vanger (played by Joely Richardson). It should be said that “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” features some intensely disturbing depictions of sexual violence in both versions (though it’s not like “Gone Girl” is a particularly easy watch either), but it’s commendable that the film is frank and blunt about the horrors that women like Lisbeth face. Unfortunately, there probably won’t be a sequel to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” — Larsson wrote two follow-up novels about Mikael and Lisbeth but died before he could complete a full series — but Fincher’s 2011 adaptation is there when you’re ready.

On the surface, the only thing that “Zodiac” and “Gone Girl” have in common is that they’re both directed by David Fincher, but the truth is that they’re both about capable yet hapless men hunting an advanced, brilliant, and elusive killer who evades them at every turn. Based on real author Robert Graysmith’s books “Zodiac” and “Zodiac: Unmasked” — with Graysmith himself played onscreen by Jake Gyllenhaal — the movie spans fourteen years beginning in 1969, the year the real Zodiac killer (who was never caught) kicked off his murder spree and started taunting the police with bizarre, cipher-filled letters that made little to no sense. Though Graysmith is just a political cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle, he ends up obsessed with the Zodiac case after his newspaper receives some of those letters; eventually, he convinces crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) to work with him to try and unmask the killer.

With a supporting cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Brian Cox, Anthony Edwards, and Chloë Sevigny, “Zodiac” is, without question, one of Fincher’s very best movies … and though we don’t meet the killer like we do in “Gone Girl,” it’s still riveting to watch as several people try to crack a case only to be constantly outsmarted by a vicious psychopath. Whether you just loved “Gone Girl” or you want to put together a Fincher retrospective, “Zodiac” is a perfect choice.

“Prisoners” definitely matches the dark tone of “Gone Girl,” and more to the point, it’s a movie where a man is singularly obsessed after a horrific crime is committed and will stop at nothing to reveal the real culprit — just like Nick Dunne does once he starts to suspect his wife is framing him. Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 crime drama centers around two families, the Dovers and the Birches, living in a small town in Pennsylvania … and after they celebrate Thanksgiving together, young Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy Birch (Kyla-Drew Simmons) go missing while they’re playing in the yard. Though a suspicious guy named Alex Jones (Paul Dano) is initially arrested, the police can’t charge him after they can’t find any evidence that he kidnapped the girls, which sends Anna’s father Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) into a total frenzy. Throughout the movie, Keller stalks and hunts Alex, even torturing the man for information; meanwhile, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to find the two missing girls in the hopes that they’re still alive.

“Prisoners” is packed full of wild twists and turns — if you think you know who the real kidnapper is, think again — and features absolutely stunning central performances from Gyllenhaal, Dano, and especially Jackman, the latter of whom plays somewhat against type as a ruthless father willing to bend and even break the law to find his missing daughter. If you want to be kept guessing and watch a gripping psychological drama but you’ve already seen “Gone Girl,” definitely try “Prisoners.”

Throughout “Gone Girl,” Amy Elliott Dunne is manipulated and lied to by both her husband Nick and her parents — not that it excuses any of her worse behavior — and in Steven Soderbergh’s intense drama “Side Effects,” Rooney Mara’s character Emily Taylor is manipulated and lied to by her husband and psychiatric professionals. At the beginning of the film, Emily drives into a wall in an apparent suicide attempt just as her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) is set to be released from prison for insider trading; as a result, Emily is placed on a veritable cocktail of drugs by her psychiatric team Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) and Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones). When Emily kills Martin while she’s sleepwalking — an apparent side effect of the drugs — she’s acquitted, but Dr. Banks’ reputation is ruined, and he starts to suspect that Emily might not have been entirely forthcoming during their treatment.

“Side Effects” is a disturbing, twisted story where you never quite know who’s telling the truth or who’s to blame for what — much like in “Gone Girl,” where two to three people are usually at fault at any given time — and right up until the last moment, you’ll be left guessing. From unreliable characters to women committing wrongs, “Side Effects” is a perfect follow-up to “Gone Girl” if you’re looking for the same unsettling feeling you’ll get from David Fincher’s film.

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