Gone Girl (2014)

I love this moment from Gone Girl when Nick discovers Amy is missing, mainly because of the track “Empty Spaces” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The score has often been described as “inauthentic calm” that slowly curdles into something unsettling and disturbing, and this scene t is a perfect example of that idea in action. The music opens in a calm, soft, placid way, but something feels off — there’s an undercurrent that feels wrong. As the scene unfolds, Reznor and Ross deepen the tension and unease by adding low ambient pluses and ominous electronic textures, along with the cello’s low strings. When we reach the emotional crescendo of the scene, the sound of frenetic strings appears, and the full weight of the music arrives. The shift hits like the revelation that Amy is missing. It is a brief moment, but to me it is musical perfection.