Awaited by many avid mystery novel readers, the movie that corresponds with the novel The Girl on the Train finally hit theatres on Friday, Oct. 7. Many fans of the book were skeptical of the accuracy of the movie in comparison to the book due to the fact that the producers changed the setting from being placed in the United Kingdom to New York. The entire book is based on a girl commuting into the city by train, so naturally many people were scared that this would have a negative effect on the plot of the story.

Thankfully, location can be considered the only major change in the story line. In order to make the film a lot more concise, the move makers took out minor details that would have definitely served no purpose in the long run. While certain things in books should not be overlooked, the producers’ immensely succeeded in only cutting out what was necessary to condense the content. For instance, the relationship between Scott Hipwell and Rachel Watson was watered down to nothing but platonic interactions which did change the dynamic of a few incidents that contributed to the integrity of Rachel’s character. The prominence of Megan Hipwell’s ex was also brought down to the bare minimum. This character’s existence was minimized so much that the character’s face was not even shown within the film. While this was a somewhat disappointing retraction from the movie, it made the film flow efficiently without sidetracking from the main point of the plot.

Even though the storyline itself was not over dramatized, the blood and gore definitely was. Many of the gruesome scenes were overtly graphic, greatly taking away from the main purpose of the scenes. Designed to be a thrilling film, the extra graphic portions of the film could have been discarded.

The portrayal of each character was stunningly accurate and convincing. Emily Blunt carried the craze of her character without letting it get out of control. Actress Rebecca Ferguson did an outstanding job playing Tom’s ex-mistress and new wife. However the way the character was portrayed in the book made her seem a lot more unlikable. I did not get the same vibe from Ferguson’s character within the movie; however if someone hadn’t read the book, they wouldn’t think twice about the oddly amiable character. Both takes on the character worked for each media form in the end.