Brilliant thriller

Rating: 9/10 (14 February 2018)

Brilliant thriller, filled with all the usual David Fincher twists, mind games and clever manipulations.
Great plot. While most stories give you a feeling that there is some
way out for the "good guy", here the "good guy" seems doomed, once the
wheels are set in motion. Furthermore, you are never sure who is the
"good guy" and who the "bad guy". Even once the twist is revealed, you
feel there may be another in store. Very un-Hollywood ending too, which
is good.
Superb performances by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, especially. Pike
well-deserved her Best Leading Actress Oscar nomination. A
searingly brilliant performance by her.
Good support from Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon and Kim Pickens.
Only negatives, I feel, are that the big twist came too soon. I would
like to have been kept in suspense for a while longer. Plus, knowing
Fincher's other work, especially Seven and Fight Club, I was expecting
a big twist near or at the end. When it came it was gradual, and felt a
bit flat. Still a good ending, but it felt like I was being brought
down gently, rather than with a jolt.