The Girl on the Train

Tate Taylor’s 2016 film makes its most visible break with the novel in geography: the London suburb of Paula Hawkins’ book became Westchester, north of New York City, a change screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson made. Taylor defends it by saying the story already happens inside these people’s heads, on a train and in their homes, and that the city is barely represented. Emily Blunt keeps her British accent on purpose, which is where Rachel’s sense of not belonging comes from. Filming started in November 2015. The platform where Rachel waits is the Ardsley-on-Hudson station on the Metro-North line, and the house she watches and her former home are two real houses side by side on one street in White Plains, so she is staring at her own past through the window. Danny Elfman wrote the score. The narrative rotates between three women and time frames, and the answer arrives through a recovered memory rather than detective work. Blunt says she researched addiction for the drunk scenes and that the part wore her out; it brought a BAFTA nomination for leading actress. A good fit if you accept a mystery whose solution rests on what a drunk witness can recall. Not for viewers who want clue gathering police work, or who avoid detailed scenes of domestic violence and alcoholism.