The Girl on the Train (2016) Sony Classical Soundtrack Review

Review: For the film adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel, renowned composer Danny Elfman was hired to compose the score for the film, starring Emily Blunt in the role of raging alcoholic Rachel Watson, who improbably becomes involved in the disappearance of a woman she becomes obsessed with while riding the train. Elfman, best known for his work with Tim Burton and for his unique and distinctive contributions to many big budget Hollywood films, has quietly entered in his new Renaissance period with very against type scores for controversial films such as Standard Operating Procedure, The Unknown Known, and Fifty Shades of Grey. Though his big, sweeping superhero scores for pictures like Batman, Spider-man, Hulk, and The Avengers: Age of Ultron are perhaps his bread and butter, so to speak, it’s his quiet and button pushing scores to these documentaries and adult dramatic thrillers that have really allowed him to work beyond what his fans expect of him.

For The Girl on the Train, Elfman really does something special with the music. It doesn’t really “sound” like Elfman, per se, but the unsettling tracks and character development and tension is very present in the music, setting the stage for the film’s true nature, which is to unbalance and disorient the viewer, as they follow the character of Rachel in her harrowing journey of self discovery and revelation. Elfman does a masterful job of getting inside her head and tipping the scales in a very intimate and dangerous way, using very tight and generally dark and shadowy motifs to give the film a boundless, unseen emotion. True fans of Danny Elfman will find his music to The Girl on the Train an unexpectedly insightful and powerful piece of work. From the maestro, it’s a true gift, dark and true, and anyone looking for a listening experience that yields beautiful, bitter fruit is bound to enjoy this release from Sony Classical, available now.