The teaser trailer for David Fincher’s much-awaited adapation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl has been released this week and, well, it’s haunting but perhaps lacks the power of the teasers for his two last features, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network. Where those teasers also used music to great effect, here the use of Richard Butler’s cover of Elvis Costello’s “She” only starts to transcend the medium in terms of instilling dread as the trailer reaches its climax.1 There’s an added layer to mere aural engagement, though, as “She”, in its original version, was featured in the film Notting Hill, a 1999 Richard Curtis rom-com that, like Gone Girl, features a woman’s face plastered all over the news.
For those who have read the novel, you’d notice a few major plot reveals hinted at in the trailer, I especially enjoy the framing of Affleck walking towards the infamous shed from the middle of the book. However, outside of these references, there aren’t many stunning shots here, nothing akin to the slow zoom on the manor in Dragon Tattoo, at least.
These qualms are mainly due to high expectations from Fincher, who oversees a large amount of the film’s marketing and promotional output and who has proven himself as adept in this area as he is behind the camera. Still, it’s exciting to see footage from the film and it definitely positions the film as Affleck’s leading man comeback (not counting performances directed by himself). I hope he knocks the last act out of the park.