The Girl on the Train (2016)
- Tate Taylor originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Tate Taylor's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
The Girl on the Train is a 2016 American mystery thriller directed by Tate Taylor, based on Paula Hawkins's 2015 bestselling novel. Emily Blunt stars as Rachel Watson, an alcoholic divorcee who rides the commuter train past her former home every day, obsessively watching a couple she can see from the tracks โ Megan and Scott Hipwell, her ex-husband's neighbors. When Megan disappears and Rachel becomes entangled in the investigation, her unreliable memories from a night of blackout drinking make her both a witness and a suspect.
Emily Blunt's performance as Rachel โ puffy-faced, desperately clinging to vodka bottles, and genuinely uncertain whether she is capable of violence โ was the film's most praised element, bringing raw vulnerability to a character who could easily have been unsympathetic. The film earned $173 million worldwide on a $45 million budget. The narrative structure, told from three unreliable female perspectives across shifting timelines, maintained the novel's addictive tension throughout.
