When a single mother is asked a simple favor from her friend, she never expected her life to be completely reversed and flipped over.
Released to theaters Sept. 14, “A Simple Favor” begins with Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick). Stephanie has turned to vlogging to give away all the tips and tricks she has learned from being a single, widowed mother, and viewers meet her at what seems like the middle of the story as she is vlogging to update her followers on her missing friend. She decided to start from the beginning for any new audience members.
Stephanie met Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) after school has let out for their sons Miles(Joshua Satine) and Nicky (Ian Ho), respectively. As the boys beg for a playdate, the two mothers relent, and Emily invites everyone to her place. The boys run upstairs to play while Stephanie and Emily partake in a few adult drinks: gin martinis. These martinis become a vital part of the girls’ friendship.
“A Simple Favor”, a crime-drama thriller, was released in theatres on Sept. 14. @asimplefavor
A little into their first drinks, Sean (Henry Golding), Emily’s husband, comes home from work. He soon leaves the girls to themselves, and as the days pass and drinks get poured, they begin to share secrets with each other that they’d never have admitted out loud before.
Then, one afternoon, Stephanie gets a call from Emily asking for a simple favor: can she pick up Nicky from school. This simple task seems like it shouldn’t amount to anything, but after a few days, with Emily not coming to pick Nicky up, Stephanie begins to worry.
This leads her and Sean on a manhunt for Emily, which digs up secrets Emily would have much rather been left buried. It also leads to a relationship that makes things a bit more complicated for the widowed mother and abandoned father.
Anna Kendrick portrays Stephanie Smothers, a mother who likes to vlog to teach other parents the skills she has learned while being a single mother. @asimplefavor
“A Simple Favor” is not a movie for those easily triggered by darker themes like murder, incest, gun-usage, and alcohol and drug usage. These themes make up the backbone of the movie, pushing the characters to do what they do and live as they live.
For those who can stand these themes, “A Simple Favor” is a good movie. It utilized the themes well and, as any good thriller does, revealed different bits of information throughout the movie, constantly making the movie-goerquestion who was ultimately the hero and who was the villain.
Anna Kendrick portrays Stephanie Smothers, a mother who likes to vlog to teach other parents the skills she has learned while being a single mother. @asimplefavor
One great aspect of the movie was the music score. The music was subtle but all the while present adding to the thrill and emotion of the film. The music by Theodore Shapiro (whose resume includes scores for “Collateral Beauty” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) aided the film and never seemed to be a distraction as some scores can tend to end up being.
Another great part of “A Simple Favor” was the femininity. Lively’s character especially was a no-nonsense kind of woman. She didn’t believe in a woman saying sorry to a man over trivial matters. It was something she imparted onto Kendrick’s character frequently. In addition to those more feminist themes, the characters had a very distinguishable set of wardrobe choices. Some suits helped show who had the power in each scene, while the distinct character looks made it easy to understand how the characters wanted to be seen by others.
A favorite pastime of friends Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) and Emily (Blake Lively), while their kids play, is to make and drink martinis. @asimplefavor
“A Simple Favor” is based on the novel by the same name written by Darcy Bell, and from page to screen, there were some notable differences. Most changes were small enough that it didn’t change the plot much, such as monetary amounts for the life insurance plans, and some family tree differences for characters, but others changed how the characters acted and ended up at the end of their stories. The ending of the book is not the same as the movie either.
Overall, “A Simple Favor” is a good addition to the crime-drama thriller genre; with its twists and turns, it is worth the watch.
4out of 5 paws.
