Gone Girl: 8 Easter Eggs & References You Might Have Missed

4. The Night Of The Hunter Murder

Ever since Gillian Flynn revealed she'd changed the third act of her beloved novel fans were eager to discover just what was different. As it turns out, not as much as we were led to believe; the broad strokes are the same, with the key difference being extensions of how Amy manipulates Nick into staying (the book involves deleting a memoir and frozen vomit). In the pre-release hype, however, there was an expectation for more. When the trailers showed a shot of a dead Amy sinking deeper into the Mississippi many assumed the new finale would feature Nick getting some proper revenge. We now know that shot comes from a potential scenario in Amy's mind, seen just after the twist, but that doesn't make the shot any less interesting. You see, the shot bares a stark resemblance to the death of Willa Harper from The Night Of The Hunter, which is revealed in a shocking underwater shot where her body is trussed up and positioned in a very similar way to Amy's. It's not just the shot that parallels Gone Girl, however; Willa is murdered by her husband who has been lying to her (a warped mirror of what's going on in Fincher's film).