Ashton Hittle
Lantern Staff
An anticipated movie for 2018 came out Friday, Sept 14. A Simple Favor received an 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was hilarious, and suspenseful at the same time. When Anna Kendrick, who plays Stephanie Smothers, takes a role in a movie, she adds a flare of awkward humor. She pays a single mother of one who befriends an elegant woman who has a son the same age. Blake Lively plays Emily Nelson, a wealthy business woman who may have more secrets than she lets on. Director Paul Feig creates a whole world that leaves the viewers on their toes with moments of ‘bust a gut’ laughter. With each twist and turn of the mystery, the ending is hard to predict.
The movie is based around a mom Stephanie, who vlogs about recipes, arts and crafts and other tips for other moms. Her son, Miles Smothers played by Joshua Satine, wants to have a play date with fellow classmate, Nicky Nelson played by Ian Ho, a playdate that sparked a friendship between the mothers. The two women refer to each other as best friends, though it seems that Emily Nelson knows more about Stephanie. Emily goes missing, and no one is surprised until she never gets back to anyone. The movie has many twists to the plot and has a very mysterious theme.
The commercials for the movie did not match to what the movie was about. Based off of a book “A Simple Favor”, by Darcey Bell, many have said that the movie and book are very similar except for a few small blips. The movie was very stylish and had a lot of interesting sets and scenes. Kendrick and Lively had a great connection on scene, and they worked well together. Throughout the movie, it shows the character progression of Stephanie and how she turns into a woman who will not let herself get pushed around.
There are a few loose ends that are not tied up before the movie ends, a few questions about Emily’s past that are not fully explained. Though the most popular question is about Emily’s husband, Sean Nelson, played by Henry Golding, and why he did not have a clue about Emily’s background.
I would suggest spending the movie theatre price to watch A Simple Favor. I would rate the movie an 8.6 on a scale of one to ten. The movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and will have you forgetting to check your phone.
