Film Review - A simple favor

I sat down to watch A Simple Favor. Like most movies, I like to go in with zero expectations, and zero context. Truth be told, I wanted to watch another Anna Kendrick film – after seeing Mr Right oh so many times. When the opening credits announced Blake Lively as an actress for the film, I began to have second thoughts, after the abomination that was The Shallows.

Kendrick plays Stephanie, a “mummy” vlogger, and devoted mother. She’s a widow, living on her deceased husband’s life insurance. She’s so involved in her child’s upbringing, and looks to be the perfect model of a mother, involved in all the extra curricula activities and niceties to the point of obsession. So maybe, she isn’t so perfect, Afterall.

Her child becomes friends with another child, and thus, as the rules of parenting dictate, she attempts to become friends with the owner of that child, who happens to be a Porsche driving, hot shot, confident, stylish Blake Lively as Emily. The quartet rendezvous for a play date, and everyone becomes very fast friends.

The movie is direct, blunt, and filled with excellent one liners from the entire cast – you’ll learn new phrases that should enter the contemporary vernacular as a result of this film. It’s also funny, in its black comedy way, before the plot goes completely bonkers following the disappearance of Emily.

Her husband doesn’t know where she is. Her employer doesn’t know where she is. The police don’t seem to care, and it is up to Stephanie and her vlog to find out. There’s an intriguing, layered mystery that plays out here, unravelling the past of Emily – and to a tiny extent, Stephanie.

There’s contrast in the plot here – both have pretty tragic pasts, and it can be argued that these two characters play polar opposites, one highly adjusted, the other struggling.

There’s an escalating series of plot twists that led you on a roller-coaster like journey through to the resolution of the plot, and this is overall, a deeply satisfying, intelligent film. Once it all comes together, there’s nothing left but to deconstruct the individual pieces, which alone; aren’t that brilliant, but together, deviate well from the typical Hollywood drama or thriller genre film.

This is definitely worth a watch. Highly recommended. Definitely not family friendly, so don’t let the kids in, unless you want them to only watch Kendrick’s mummy vlog.