Before the Gone Girl, there was Camille Preaker from Sharp Objects by Gillian Flyn. An investigative journalist who is currently working in St. Louis, Missouri; Camille is more than making an effort to navigate through life after battling mental illness and alcoholism for years. Her only shoulder to lean on during these difficult times is her boss. So, Camille is the starting point for Gillian Flynn’s complicated, socially unacceptable, heavy-burden-from-past-causing-traumatised-life kind of leading ladies.

And when such complex character is portrayed by an accomplished artist like Amy Adams, then it’s worth all your time and money to watch this story of a dysfunctional family come alive on screen. Being a superlative actress, it helps to bring Camille to life with all her scars and scares. From the first frame till the last, she manages to captivate the audiences with her powerfully enacted role of a middle aged woman who is refusing to come to terms with life because of her tragic past.

What hurts Camille the most and which has pushed to the brink of mental pain, is her sister’s untimely, shocking death while Camille herself was a teenager. One minute she had a healthy, happy-go-lucky younger sister who quite rapidly became so ill and finally succumbing to unknown diseases. That death has hit Camille in the gut because she could not help her sister who withered away in such fashion. This becomes the trigger for her psychotic episodes, year on year, with scars on her body and mind- some visible but more invisible.

But then one day, Camille’s work superior asks her to investigate murders of two girls from her hometown- Wind gap; with much reluctance and not having other options, Camille finally accepts the job of writing articles on these two gruesome murders. We immediately get to know the reasons of her reluctance to not return to Wind Gap as we first meet her family and later on her friends.

Camille’s mother- Adora Crellin is like the queen bee of the town, holding money and power strings of the whole town in her well manicured fingers. Her heritage house is also home to her husband- Alan Crellin and her teenage daughter- Amma Crellin. So, all three of them make sure to clarify Camille that she is a mere guest for few days and not welcome here to disturb the harmony of their protected, peaceful world.

Despite such resistance from her family, the town police and even her old friends, how Camille pieces together the stories of those two unfortunate girls is worth watching on the screen. You also have a supposed, half baked romance angle here with our main protagonist getting cosy with the outsider detective, but you will certainly be disappointed by his reactions in the end. Beside this, there are also half hearted attempts to rekindle her childhood friendships and acquaintances; however, leading down this path brings more misery than meaningful stories.

What stands out in this plot line is the relationships between Camille and her half kid sister Amma; on one hand, Camille is a middle aged woman who has seen so much of world and is still traumatised by her real younger sister’s departure and on the other hand is Amma with her carefree nature, teenage fantasies, two faced lies and life. So it is not surprising that they have their own shares of frictions and fallout, still Camille ensures to keep Amma’s future safe from all the toxicity surrounding them. But can she really protect her other sister? Does Amma really seeking for love and care of her elder sister or her Mother’s affection is enough for her?

This eight part series tries to answer all these questions and also tries to unravel the mystery behind the two murders in Wind Gap. Although, the story is not presented in a linear manner and there are lots of back-&-forth in Camille’s narrative; still, the storyline is interesting enough to hold your attention fully till the last credits are rolled out. So, this is highly recommended not only for the fans of Gillian Flynn but also for all those who enjoy a murder mystery with a noir treatment.