Pike was cast as Amy after director David Fincher had seen her in multiple films but couldn't get a sense of who she was, a quality he felt was important to the character.

As revenge, Amy fakes her disappearance and conjures an elaborate plan to make it seem as if she was pregnant and Nick violently murdered her.

When asked about Amy's noble qualities, author Gillian Flynn cited traits such as high ambition, intelligence, and tenacity, which she takes to an extreme.

[5][6] When writing Gone Girl, Flynn had missing white woman syndrome in mind, with the phenomenon driving the story's plot and being a key reason Amy's plan works out.

[8][9][12] Joan Smith of Sunday Times praised Flynn's work on writing Amy, calling it "subtly drawn", and that it helped the story feel unpredictable.

[13] Amanda Dobbins of Vulture wrote that Flynn created a "sociopathic" and "morally indefensible" character in Amy, which helped the novel to become a compelling read.

[20][21] Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent wrote that Pike captured her character's "Martha Stewart-like perfectionism" with relentless drive.

[12] Aimee Ferrier of Far Out praised Pike's performance, calling it "incredible" and complimenting the actress's ability to portray a "cold, plotting psychopath" with depth.

[25] Amanda Greever of The Daily Times was positive towards Pike's performance, writing that she seemed to "relish each delicious twist and turn the character takes", adding that it was "very entertaining" to watch.

[7][10][14] Emily St. James of Vox called the 2014 film "the most feminist mainstream movie" of its time, believing that Amy destroying Nick's life symbolized "taking back power for women" in the story.

[19] David Haglund of Slate praised Amy's "cool girl" speech, believing it effectively called out double standards faced by women.

[29] Lesley Coffin of The Mary Sue believed that Amy's portrayal was problematic, saying that it "supports a disturbing depiction of women as a threat to the male domain".

[30] Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post believed that the character could be considered both misandrist and misogynist as "she hates pretty much everyone" except Nick near the end of the story.