Another novel of "Gone Girl" author Gillian Flynn has come to life with the release of a film adaptation of her 2009 best seller, "Dark Places" starring Charlize Theron.
Directed and adapted to film by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, "Dark Places" stars Academy Award winner Charlize Theron in the leading role of Libby Day, a woman who has spent years psychologically scarred. She had witnessed the slaughter of her mother and sisters at a young age. At the time, it was believed that the murders were the work of a satanic cult that Libby's brother was a part of. As a young girl, Libby identified him in court.
Twenty-five years later, that accusation is called into question. Libby is contacted by a group of true crime fanatics who call themselves The Kill Club, and they inform her that they believe her brother is innocent. A search for truth begins, but it requires the protagonist to bring back some horrific memories.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gillian Flynn discussed why she chose writer/director Gilles Paquet-Brenner. She said that she was really lucky to work with a director who felt really protective of "Dark Places" and really liked it for what it was. She said that she had seen Paquet-Brenner's "Sarah's Key" and commented: "It (Sarah's Key) slides really beautifully back and forth between past and present, so I thought that maybe there was some agreeance there."
At a conference for the film's press day, the author was asked about Libby's multi-layered character, Flynn remarked: "For me, Libby's darkness came from a very specific place. To write her any other way made no sense"
In an answer to a question thrown to Theron on her being attracted to playing on stories with dark and angry women, she said: "I can't say that I'm attracted to angry, dark people. I think what I'm attracted to are characters that, to me, feel very truthful to the embodiment of a full woman. I think it's just refreshing to see women like Gillian Flynn write women like that. And to have been given the opportunity to play those women in the last 10 years, it feels authentic and real. That's all I can say."
Also starring Tye Sheridan, Drea de Matteo, Nicholas Hoult, Chloe Grace Moretz, Corey Stoll, Sterling Jerins and Shannon Kook Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places" will hit the theaters on August 7.
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