Film: Gone

Director: Heitor Dhalia

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Emily Wickersham

3/5

Seyfried gives a convincing performance and does not disappoint

 

Amanda Seyfried stars in this tense thriller, haunted by her previous abductor that was never brought to justice. One year prior, Jill Conway had been kidnapped and abandoned in a dark pit in the forest amongst human remains, but had managed to wound her abductor and escape when he had descended into the pit to kill her. Returning to civilisation, she reported it to the police but they found no hole and no remains that Jill had claimed to exist.

 

Discovering that she had spent several years in a psychiatric institution, the police were unconvinced and closed the case, coming to the conclusion that the incident had only existed in Jill’s mind. Having been continuously paranoid over the return of her abductor for the past year, when she arrives home to find no sign of her sister, she is certain that he is back. The only problem she has is that nobody believes her. She then takes it upon herself to find her sister and before long, is wandering the streets of Portland uncontrollably waving a gun. This ultimately invites a police manhunt to bring her in as well as the prevalent view that she is a mental case. However, if Jill is correct and there is a serial killer at hand, she may well be all there is to save her sister from a grisly death.

 

Seyfried gives a convincing performance and does not disappoint, despite Gone being one of her first most recognised thrillers. Jill is independent, paranoid and determined; she will do whatever it takes to find her sister, Molly. Although the plot revolves around the search for Molly, her character is not explored in a way that one would expect. Director Heitor Dhalia does not allow for the audience to connect with Molly as a character, most probably because her character is absent for most of the duration of the film. However, this is effective in strengthening the bond between Jill and the audience, and although it remains untold, the audience begin to reluctantly believe that Jill is right in her accusations.

the type of thriller that is continuously fixated on red herrings

 

Written by Allison Burnett, Gone is a tense yet exciting thriller that continuously has the audience in suspense. The audience is torn between believing and doubting Jill’s decisions and allegations, and this remains unsettled until one of the closing scenes. The only problem posed by this is that it is the type of thriller that is continuously fixated on red herrings, potentially drawing away from the viewer’s concern for any kind of real danger. However, on the whole, it is successful in delivering an exhilarating and stimulating experience, and because of its distinctive plot, suitably differs from the average thriller.