Director Paul Feig’s crime/thriller about a mommy vlogger trying to find out the real reason behind her new best friend’s sudden disappearance is a movie I liked less than I expected to. 

Starring Blake Lively, Henry Golding and Anna Kendrick, what I appreciated most about A Simple Favor, besides Lively’s character Emily’s great sense of style, is her embodiment of a young woman in charge who refuses to take nonsense from anyone.

It’s therefore no wonder then that Kendrick’s outwardly super sweet Stephanie was very much drawn to the clearly inspiring and very fun to watch Emily.

There was a moment after all the key characters seemed to have been established that I wondered where the story was really going. What I most certainly didn’t expect was that I’d find A Simple Favor to be rather unsatisfying overall.

Having never read the book on which this movie is based, I’d prepared myself for a different kind of experience; one that was a fun mystery with entertaining dialogue, but without things taking quite the dark turn that they did. And when I say ‘dark,’ I’m really mostly referring to the truth behind Emily, her true nature. It’s clear to me now that I simply wanted to like her but couldn’t

The last time a movie did something similar to me, almost like a bait and switch was The Lobster (2015). And just like the Lobster, I liked the earlier half of A Simple Favor more.

Watch it if you’re so curious, maybe you’ll enjoy the darkness.

Happy Film Loving,

G