A Glean movie guide
Beyond the Facade: Thrillers Like Gone Girl
Trust no one.
Unreliable narrators, domestic secrets, and the dark side of devotion.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Girl on the Train
A fractured memory fuels this tense mystery about a missing woman and the hidden lives of neighbors.
Rachel Watson, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.
- 02
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
David Fincher’s cold, meticulous style brings this dark investigation of family secrets to life.
Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.
- 03
Dark Places
Based on a Gillian Flynn novel, this cynical thriller unearths a family's violent and buried past.
A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.
- 04
Side Effects
A sharp, unpredictable look at medical deception where the plot shifts just as you think you have it figured out.
A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.
- 05
Nocturnal Animals
A haunting, stylish exploration of marital resentment and the psychological weight of the past.
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
- 06
The Handmaiden
An exquisite and elaborate period thriller where every character is playing a dangerous double game.
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sookee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
- 07
The Gift
A quiet, unsettling look at how past secrets can systematically dismantle a modern marriage.
Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.
- 08
A Simple Favor
A stylishly dark mystery that peels back the layers of a seemingly perfect suburban friendship.
Stephanie, a dedicated mother and popular vlogger, befriends Emily, a mysterious upper-class woman whose son Nicky attends the same school as Miles, Stephanie's son. When Emily asks her to pick Nicky up from school and then disappears, Stephanie undertakes an investigation that will dive deep into Emily's cloudy past.
- 09
The Game
A masterclass in paranoia where a wealthy man’s reality is systematically dismantled for sport.
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
- 10
Prisoners
A visceral, high-stakes search for missing children that pushes its characters to moral extremes.
Keller Dover is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street.