A Simple Favor

Rating: 4.5/5

A sexy film with twists and turns around every corner, A Simple Favor is dark, comical, and entertaining.

While picking up her son from school, mommy vlogger Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) meets a chic and mysterious mom named Emily (Blake Lively). When their two sons won't stop begging for a play date, the two women give in and end up getting to know one another. Stephanie is meek and awkward, and seems woefully out of place inside Emily's glamorous world.

Though seemingly different in numerous ways, the two start a fast and unsettling friendship. When Emily asks Stephanie for a simple favor; to pick up her son from school, Stephanie doesn't think much of it, that is until Emily doesn't return. Desperate to find out what has happened to her new best friend, Stephanie begins a frantic search for answers.

Before I even knew of the plot of this movie, I saw that Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively were doing a film together, and I knew that I had to see it. Once I learned of the plot, my desire to see the movie became even stronger. The two women are easily able to dominate a screen, and putting them together was a stroke of brilliance. Though their characters are drastically different from one another, their on screen demeanor is somehow similar. They know how to command the attention of the audience, but not take away from the work of their costar; creating two performances that blend together in the most wonderfully twisted ways.

The story itself is meant to be a mystery, so going into too much detail would risk spoiling the many intriguing and sometimes disturbing aspects of the film. What I can say, is that A Simple Favor is a dark comedy in every sense of the term. It is one of those movies where you laugh when you know, morally, you probably shouldn't, but that is exactly the film's intention. Sometimes I am not a fan of dark comedies, but this particular movie presents the concept in a way that makes it not only palatable, but oddly enjoyable.

I had been waiting for months for A Simple Favor to come to theaters, hoping that I wouldn't have all my excitement build up only to be disappointed; thankfully that was definitely not the case. It has been a long time since I have seen a movie like this, and I feel it will be a long time before I see another one that comes close to it. It is reminiscent in parts to Gone Girl, but takes its' own path by adding in its' individual quirks and glamour. A Simple Favor is a unique and fun ride, and is a movie I would most certainly recommend.