As I mentioned yesterday, Gone Girl was a total page-turner, but out of Gillian Flynn’s novels, Dark Places is my favorite. Charlize Theron will be starring in and producing the movie, which has already wrapped filming.

Flynn’s second novel is about Libby Day (Theron), whose mother and sisters were all brutally murdered when she was a child. Now in her 30s and strapped for cash, she starts selling her stuff to the Kill Club, a secret society obsessed with solving infamous crimes. Here she begins second guessing her brother, Ben’s conviction for the murders. Libby is forced to confront her past as she tries to find who really killed her family.

The Daily Mail (I know, I know) pointed out that the story is eerily similar to Theron’s life. Which was rough. I’m sure it’s crossed her mind. This question will probably come up during promotion. She doesn’t talk about it much, but she has said that her mother has saved her life many times.

Amy Adams was originally slated to play Libby, but thank God Theron has taken over. The best way I can describe her is that she’s delightfully hateful, much like Theron’s role in Young Adult. I love characters that are hard to like. This seems like a common thread in Flynn’s novels. What’s cool is that Libby isn’t hiding behind any false pretense. She doesn’t pretend to like anybody. For such dark subject matter, her narration is hilarious. She just DGAF.

My first reaction to the rest of the cast is that they’re too good looking. Christina Hendricks will play Libby’s mother, who I pictured as really dowdy. Good luck, makeup department. But I think I can get down with Nicholas Hoult playing Lyle, resident loser and treasurer of the Kill Club. Just throw some glasses on him or something. I kind of balked when I heard Chloë Grace Moretz would play Diondra. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was sure that character was Latina. Shout at me if I’m being stupid. In any case, Moretz can handle darkness. And Diondra is vile.

Unlike Gone Girl, Flynn’s first two novels, Sharp Objects and Dark Places were a bit more formulaic. I love all three, but Gone Girl is where she deviates from any deus ex machina.

Dark Places was originally set for a September release, but has obviously been pushed back to next year because of Gone Girl.

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