Gone Girl

Mystifying, well-planned, precisely curdled, and tantalizingly mercurial, Gone Girl is a stealthy comedy and an absorbing melodrama; a break-all-the-windows plot-twister that retains every jolt from Gillian Flynn’s blockbuster novel; and a work of chilly wit and bleak metaphor that toys with the viewer like a femme fatale with her prey. It’s the perfect date-night movie for couples who dream of destroying one another.

An Education

Bracingly perceptive and excitingly young, An Education is a distinctive story with universal appeal; a smart, moving, and accessible entry in the coming-of-age canon; and a deceptively restrained film that communicates with forthrightness and simmers with roiling emotions. The combination of an adroit cast, an economical style, and a literate script, achieves an alchemical feat: one of the best films of the year.