The Girl on the Train” seemed to be one of the highest anticipated movies of 2016 after audiences raved over the hugely popular page-turner written by Paula Hawkins coming to the big screen. On Oct. 7, 2016, director Tate Taylor released his on-screen depiction of the suspenseful thriller. Box office sales have climbed to $24.6 million just from the opening weekend. The film is obviously popular due to the success of its preceding novel; however, it seems Taylor could not meet the high expectations set by eager fans.

Beginning with a scene of main character Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) sitting in an almost isolated train car staring longingly out the window, the film creates an alluring, eerie mood. However, it is only enticing for those who had no previous expectations. For the rest of us die-hard fanatics, it was just what we were anticipating. The rest of the movie seemed to follow the same pattern. Although it made the movie predictable, there was some beauty in the replication of the book almost word for word. Taylor definitely deserves credit for his successful attempt to preserve the literary components of his story. Yes, he definitely gets the gold for his ability to replicate a well-written novel, but he lacks originality and self-expression in his representation. It would have been nice to see some original ideas incorporated into the film versus an exact copy of the famous novel.

To concede, Taylor did a magnificent job casting experienced actors who portrayed their roles perfectly. I found myself heavily empathizing with the characters. I was completely consumed — abducted by Rachel’s melancholy life and struggles. I found myself replicating the reactions of the characters through the twists and turns of the film. Although predictable, “The Girl on the Train” was still able to captivate me.

Overall, “The Girl on the Train” could not completely live up to its preceding novel and therefore receives a rating of a B. Expectations were set exceedingly high, and the task for anyone to make a film to fulfill the hype was nearly impossible. However, Taylor took a safe route in his attempt to accomplish this goal. He reached some success through the casting of talented actors whom thrusted a whirlwind of empathy upon the audience so that they may find themselves as infatuated with the emotional appeal of this film as I was.