Film Review: ‘A Simple Favour’

Welcome back for another film review 🙂

I’ve recently tried to watch more films, as I have an endless list to get through! And as soon as I watched this film I knew I needed to share a review of ‘A Simple Favour’ as it was as strange, crazy, and gripping as I thought it was going to be.

‘A Simple Favour’ came out in 2018, and stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. I recently finished ‘Gossip Girl‘ for the second time, and I’m really not a fan of Lively’s character in that series.

However, in this film I thought her character was much more interesting- mysterious, dangerous and elegant, the film questioned the audience’s judgement constantly, with so many twists and turns.

This film focused on Stephanie, a young single woman haunted by the death of her husband and brother, and just trying to bring up her young son alone.

She’s what the other parents see as a “perfect mum”, choosing to stay at home full time and putting in lots of hours volunteering for school, as well as running her own vlog about everything mum-related.

One day Stephanie meets Emily, an elegant, beautiful and alluring mother at the school, who works full time in New York and drinks martinis in her spare time.

Stephanie is drawn to Emily’s seemingly perfect lifestyle, enjoying the move away from her mundane life- they soon become friends, trading their darkest secrets. But does Stephanie know the real Emily?

And then Emily goes missing, and things start to get strange for Stephanie as she finds herself catapulted into Emily and her husband’s lives, getting caught up in searching into her past- and growing her vlog as she goes.

The main character of 'A Simple View', Emily, holds an umbrella to protect herself from the rain. She looks mysteriously into the distance.
Picture credits here

I actually really enjoyed this film, despite the random and sometimes far-fetched twists and turns. I liked how both the main characters were women- and the growing strength of Stephanie was so brilliant to watch.

The ending was so random and surreal to me, and had a corny feel because of that, but I really enjoyed this film even so. It reminded me of a much less graphic ‘Gone Girl.’ There were definitely some elements of it in ‘A Simple Favour.’

Overall I thought this film was intriguing, and the character of Emily was certainly mysterious and alluring. I liked the two main characters as characters, as they were interesting, and had a certain depth to them. This was a story of two very different women, mothers, and characters– caught up in a crazy and thrilling series of events.

Have you watched this film? Are you a fan of Blake Lively? Would you consider giving this film a try?

Drop any comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts 🙂

Happy reading x

Picture credits available here

54 thoughts

  1. I have seen the film and adored Blake’s character. I have not ever seen Gossip Girl…I know ! *gasp* But I thought this character was made for her. The ending was a little fast paced and I remember that I had to pay close attention to get the full affect. Glad you enjoyed it! Great review:)

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  5. I loved this film, I loved both Blake and Anna’s characters, they seemed so completely different but it worked. Also, I wasn’t a fan of the ending it seemed a bit rushed but it was still a great movie!

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  7. I would like to give this a try, I think! I’ve seen Blake Lively in the move The Age of Adaline, so I can separate her from her Gossip Girl persona. She’s pretty good. I’d love to see her and Anna Kendrick together. Great review!

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  14. The more I’ve seen Gossip Girl on repeat the more I agree. Sabrina is one of the worst characters. She definitely wasn’t that way in the books! I also really liked her role in this movie but I love Anna Kendrick but I hated Stephanie! A female character she’s pretty weak and clingy and some of it kind of made me crazy like how she said they were best friends after like a week.

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  17. This sounds like an interesting movie, maybe not something I feel like I have to watch right away but definitely something I would turn on for a quiet night! We will have to keep it in mind!

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  18. I watched this last year, and I felt like it was so bizarre. A mystery that turned into a thriller and then a comedy. I dont like it, but I like to recommend it to other people just to see their reaction after they watch it.

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  21. When I saw the preview for this film, I was intrigued but I never got a chance of seeing it. I’m not a huge fan of Blake lively but I really like Anna Kendrick, in big part to Pitch Perfect. I’ll have to check it out for sure when I have the chance. Thabnks for sharing.

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  27. I went into this movie expecting it to be like Gone Girl so I was surprised to find out it’s a really dark comedy. The tone was all over the place, and when I was finished watching it, it gave me an uneasy feeling. Yet I recommended it to my mom and sister and watched it with them one night, just to see what their reaction would be. It’s such a strange movie. I liked your take of it.

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  28. Pingback: Film Review: ‘Ladybird’ – Not-So-Modern Girl
  29. Pingback: Series Review: Gossip Girl – Not-So-Modern Girl

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