Gone (4 Stars)

This is a chilling psychological thriller starring Amanda Seyfried. She plays a woman called Jill from Portland, Oregon. She was kidnapped and held prisoner in a pit. While there she found the bones of previously murdered victims. She managed to escape and went to the police. The police were unable to find any evidence of the pit, so they accused Jill of being delusional, and she was committed to a mental hospital. A year later Jill's sister disappears. She suspects that the same killer is operating again, but the police refuse to believe her. She has to hunt for the killer herself, but at the same time the police are hunting for her, because she's considered to be a deranged madwoman.

This is a well crafted thriller. I enjoyed watching every minute of it. The picture has dark tones, even in daylight, underlining the depressing atmosphere of the story.

I have mixed feelings about Amanda Seyfried. On the one hand I find her extremely talented, making her one of my favourite actresses. On the other hand, she has alienated me by statements she has made in interviews. In a newspaper interview last year she complained about the difference in pay between actors and actresses in Hollywood. She said that in a recent film (which she didn't name) the leading actor was paid ten times as much as her. That sounds disgraceful, doesn't it? So I did a little research. I found that in 2014 Amanda Seyfried was the world's highest paid actress, having earned $46 million. Only two men had earned more than her, namely Robert Downey Jr ($72 million) and Dwayne Johnson ($52 million). This puts everything in a different perspective. She's the world's third highest actor, and she's complaining about not earning enough? She's complaining about suffering disadvantages because of her gender? She's lost all touch with reality. She's the delusional one, not Jill.