A Simple Favor | Film Review

Hey Guys x

From the moment that I heard the premise of this film I was really excited to watch it. It's a (for want of a better word) simple idea, that expands and becomes something dark and extremely complicated.

Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a vlogger who is asked a simple favor by her best friend Emily (Blake Lively) - to pick up Emily's son from school. But when Emily doesn't return to collect him, Stephanie realises that it's up to her to uncover the mystery of the woman's disappearance.

The great thing about this film is that, from the beginning, we are tied to Stephanie. Because of this, we experience Emily at exactly the same moment that she does. We know how Stephanie is feeling because we see everything through her eyes and feel the same way.

The story on paper may seem complicated or unrealistic, but the way that the film unfolds is so intelligent - it simplifies the story while giving nothing away. You don't know who to trust, and you certainly can't guess what's going to happen next.

And then there's the twists. For me, I thought that I knew what was happening, or could at least make a pretty good guess. But around 40 minutes in, the film took a turn that completely blindsided me, and from then I was completely thrown off the trail. I couldn't guess the ending at all. And part of this is due to being tied to Stephanie. In life, you make wrong turns all the time. When she thinks that she's getting close, so do we. And the more she finds out, whether right or wrong, the more invested you as the audience are in the ending.

Speaking of Stephanie, even though we're seeing everything through her eyes, and therefore feel like we should be on her side through everything, she's a character that you either sympathise with or roll your eyes at periodically - for me, it was the latter. Throughout the film she makes a plethora of bad decisions. And yes this might be necessary for the advancement of the plot, but it doesn't help out her character much.

And last but not least, the ending. The story is wrapped up amazingly well. There were no loose ends, everything made sense. However, the ending was a bit underwhelming. It felt like something else was going to happen, like another twist was going to come out. So when nothing did, it felt a bit like 'Oh... OK then'.

Overall, this film is a truly original mystery/thriller - a perfect combination of the two genres that keeps you on your toes at all times.

8/10

Lou