Emily Blunt's new film exposes the danger of 'mommy cults'

Actress Emily Blunt hopes her new drama The Girl On The Train sheds light on the menacing nature of 'mommy cults'.

The 33-year-old Brit, who is mother to two babies with husband John Krasinski, refuses to cause a fuss about how other people parent their children amid what she believes is a growing social phenomenon surrounding mothers who team up to criticize the way other women raise their kids.

"I think women will really relate to it (film) and see aspects of themselves, or themselves fully, in any one of these characters," she tells The Hollywood Reporter while speaking about The Girl on the Train. "There is a huge societal pressure on women when it comes to motherhood, and these 'mommy cults' that go on.

"It makes women feel that they have to be a bit defensive about the choices they make, whether they want to be a mother or whether they don't, whether they want to breastfeed or whether they don't. I could go on and on."

"In the domestic world is where I think women can be quite cruel about each other, more so than any other environment," she continues. "This film captures that."

The Girl on the Train addresses a number of disturbing situations, as Blunt plays a conflicted character named Rachel, who fantasises about a couple living down the street from her ex-husband's house. Divorcee Rachel turns to alcohol in a bid to escape the pain of her break-up and becomes embroiled in a missing person case after she witnesses something go down involving the couple she daydreams about.

Portraying a person who has a stalker streak was a challenge for Blunt, because even though she loves watching true crime stories on TV, the dark vibe on set was something she needed to unplug from while traveling home to relax at night.

"I loved (HBO network docu-series) The Jinx, and my father defends criminals for a living so it's definitely dinner-table conversation for us!" she smiles before noting decompressing from the darkness was essential.

"I found a way to detach from the day - I had a long car ride home and would try to meditate on the way," she adds.