This past weekend, the awaited movie A Simple Favor came out and I’m still unsure how to feel. This film took you on so many twists and turns that it was hard to just feel one emotion after watching it. Unsure if you should watch this in theaters? Well, here is a review that will help you decide whether this is the best movie choice for this week.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie, adapted by Darcey Bell’s novel, A Simple Favor, follows the story of two women: a mommy blogger named Stephanie, and a business woman named Emily. This unlikely pair become best friends until one day when Emily asks Stephanie to do her a simple favor in picking up her son from school, but then Emily goes missing. Emily is a very mysterious and secret-filled character. Throughout the story, Stephanie unravels her past and discovers that Emily is not the person she thought she knew.
I was skeptical about the casting of Anna Kendrick as a mommy blogger because we are so used to seeing her play that young girl-next-door or that funny best friend, so playing a single mother with a blog seemed to be a stretch. I was wrong, she fit well in that role and yes, I had to remind myself that she wasn’t Becca from Pitch Perfect at the beginning of the movie, but it went away as I saw how immersed she was in this character that she was portraying. Although this was Henry Golding’s (Crazy Rich Asian star) second film ever, he did not disappoint. He was very convincing in his portal of Emily’s husband, Sean Townsend. And of course, we can’t forget about Blake Lively and her amazing portrayal of a sadistic, manipulating yet captivating woman, Emily. It was refreshing to see America’s sweetheart play a grab-you-by-the-balls scary boss-like character. Lively and Kendrick’s chemistry was amazing. The only thing I would change about any of the characters is making Golding’s character more aggressive when tensions start rising between Emily and Sean to make their angry passion more convincing.
The film had a Gone Girl feel to it in that it had a mysterious plot that drove the main character, being Emily, to do some very dark things that will shock the audience. It was refreshing that the movie had some light comedy in it to help make the narrative more interesting. The film will make you think one thing is happening when really something else is being planned behind the scenes, and the most innocent characters like Stephanie and Sean aren’t as innocent as they seem. This movie is filled with mystery, passion, love, fear and ultimatums—sounds to me like a great Friday night watch. Rotten Tomatoes rated this movie an 82 percent, Common Sense Media rated it a 4/5 film, and Rolling Stone called it “a sexy Neo-Noir.” Personally, I would also give it 4 out of 5 stars, it’s definitely a movie you want to see with a group of friends on the big screen.