Some fans may be concerned about David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” big ending change, but the edit will leave you surprisingly satisfied.
[Warning: this article contains spoilers about the film!]
In the novel, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) comes home after seeing Nick Dune’s (Ben Affleck) plea for her return on television. Amy admits to Nick everything she's done to frame him for her disappearance by having him strip down and head to the bathroom with her.
She runs the shower and speaks at a whisper, just in case Nick is recording her. Nick spends the next several weeks planning to expose Amy, writing a book and combing through Amy’s diary. Nick realizes some entries points to Amy attempting to frame him for poisoning her.
Nick believes it is Amy’s last card in her hand and is what she’s holding over him to do what ever she wants. Nick finds the evidence of her poisoning: a frozen container of her vomit. He cleans it out and presents it to her, but she shrugs it off.
To Nick’s surprise, Amy comes back with a positive pregnancy test and he doesn’t know how she got his sperm, let along how she got pregnant. The novel ends with a pregnant Amy with an autobiography detailing her abduction and Nick being nice to her, realizing how terrible it must be to live with herself, getting satisfaction that she’ll never be able to truly be happy.
Now in Fincher’s adaptation, the pregnancy has a set up from the beginning. Nick reveals a letter from a fertility clinic he went to early on in his marriage to Amy where he deposited his sperm so she could get inseminated.
Nick believes Amy destroyed the sample, but it turns out it was her last trick up her sleeve. Nick never writes a memoir of himself exposing Amy for all she’s done, but plots to reveal her lies during an interview with Ellen Abbot.
However, Nick’s tune changes after the pregnancy, as he knows he would never be able to protect his child from Amy if he’s not around it. Amy knew a child is the one thing Nick always wanted from her, and knew he would never abandon his unborn daughter or son. The film ends with Nick stroking Amy’s hair, never showing her pregnant belly.
“Gone Girl” is playing in theaters now. Watch the trailer below for a sneak peak of Fincher’s adaptation.
