Two years after the opening of the pervertedly female-empowering "Gone Girl" (based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel), I'm one of the people who still get chills when remembering Rosamund Pike's monologue. "Gone Girl" officially put Flynn's name on the map in more ways than one. Her online reputation in the U.S. is that of a female novelist who promotes rabid feminism with the help of prestigious male directors. In "Gone Girl" that male director was David Fincher. Now another Flynn novel — "Dark Places" — has been adapted to the screen, this time by French-born Gilles Pacquet-Brenner ("Sarah's Key"). The chill factor is toned down here, but Flynn's fascination with the evil and cruelty lurking in a woman's heart is expertly conveyed.
Set once again in the Midwest (Kansas), the story swoops and circles around the mysterious massacre of a family in the late 1980s. Libby Day was 8 years old when her mother and two sisters became victims of a shooting rampage. She escaped by hiding in the barn and then is later pressured into testifying that her cult-worshipping teenage brother, Ben, was the killer. On the strength of Libby's testimony, Ben spends the next 28 years in prison.
Libby (Charlize Theron), now an adult, has been living off the proceeds of a ghost-written autobiography and donations from strangers. The money, however, is about to dry up and she is uncertain about her next move. Having matured into a guarded recluse who can't bear to be touched by anyone, she openly displays her trauma, mostly at night when she bothers to venture outdoors.