‘The Girl on the Train’ Blu-ray Review: Emily Blunt Shines In Must-See Thriller

Based on the best-selling novel by Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train is a captivating thriller showing how far some will go to hide who they are.

‘The Girl on the Train’ Blu-ray Review

The movie opens with Rachel (Emily Blunt) riding on the train, the Metro-North to be exact, and staring longingly at the house she once shared with her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux). Her memories serve as an introduction for the viewer who learns their marriage ended because of Blunt’s alcoholism after not being able to have kids. Theroux cheated with his now-wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson) and the two live in Blunt’s old house with their infant.

Blunt is obsessed with keeping Theroux in her life and calls and shows up to the house constantly during her alcohol-induced blackouts. She has also lost her job as a result of her drinking but still rides the train into the city every morning to hide that from her roommate Cathy (Laura Prepon).

Another obsession she has while riding on the train twice a day is the neighbor of her ex-husband who Blunt names “Jess” before learning it’s Megan (Haley Bennett), and her husband Scott (Luke Evans). Blunt usually sees them in loving and passionate embraces and assumes they have the perfect life and marriage. However, one day on her way back home from the city she sees Bennett kissing another man on the balcony and drunkenly plans to confront her. That’s the last thing Blunt remembers before waking up back at home covered in blood and learning that Bennett is missing.

Genuinely concerned and unsure what’s happened, Blunt begins the long process of trying to help find this woman who clearly didn’t have the perfect life everyone thought but at the same time helps herself. It’s a struggle for Blunt to be taken seriously because she has a hard time convincing anyone she’s more than a drunk, but what she learns about herself and the people around her end up being much more shocking than she could ever imagine.

Directed by Tate Taylor with Marc Platt as producer and screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, this movie is a must-see. It’s an extreme telling of situations that many of us have been exposed to: infidelity, substance abuse and plain-old loneliness.

Special features on the DVD include: Deleted and extended scenes, The Women Behind The Girl and On Board The Train shorts, and feature commentary with director Taylor.