A Simple Favor

This movie is beyond awesome not only because of the amazing characters but it was so hilarious and at
the same time full of suspense (at a point I couldn't trust anyone on the screen). They all played their parts so well and it had a lot of not so common roles for instance, there was a vlogger who shared her mom tips amongst other things and this helped her kind of solve the mystery in the movie and the kids oh so gorgeous!

According to Sheila of rogerebert.com,  ' The movie is a pretty delicate balancing act. It's a thriller told with a broad sense of humor (even slapstick at times). One false move could have been deadly, resulting in a film self-serious, or straining to be "relevant," or—worse—just plain old boring. But "A Simple Favor," directed by Paul Feig, has its cake and eats it too. It's suspenseful, but also hilarious. It's insightful about the head games women can play with each other, but it doesn't burden itself with trying to be "meaningful." It's not trying to "say something" about "how we live now" or anything like that. What a relief to watch a film unafraid of letting its hair down'. 



This is how the movie goes:

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a widowed single mother who runs a vlog with crafts and recipes. Emily (Blake Lively) is a busy working mother, a PR director for a fashion company, whose son Nicky attends the same elementary school as Stephanie's son, Miles. Emily and Stephanie become best friends, arranging play dates for the boys. They trade confessions, and Stephanie admits that as a teenager, she had sex with her half-brother, Chris. Emily expresses her frustration at the lack of success of her husband, English professor Sean Townsend, and their poor financial situation.

Emily has a work crisis and asks Stephanie to babysit Nicky, as Sean is in London. After two days of Emily not responding to calls, Stephanie calls Emily's employer, Dennis Nylon, and he tells her she is in Miami. Stephanie calls Sean, who calls the police. Emily had told both Stephanie and Sean that she hates having her picture taken, leading Stephanie to sneak into Emily's work and find a photo, which she uses to create missing person posters.

Detective Summervile reports that Emily lied about Miami, and that she rented a car in Michigan. A fan of Stephanie's vlog reports seeing Emily in Michigan, and the car is discovered near a summer camp, where police find her drowned body in the lake. Stephanie and Sean develop a bond through grief and taking care of the boys, which turns into a relationship and Stephanie moves in with him. Detective Summervile later reveals to Stephanie that Emily had severe liver damage, a large amount of heroin in her system, and that Sean had recently taken out a $4 million life insurance policy on Emily.

Emily, alive and in hiding, sends Stephanie an insulting message about her tryst with Chris, causing Stephanie to recall how her husband, Davis, suspected her relationship with her half-brother, and questioned the paternity of Miles. He confronted Chris during a car ride, which resulted in a crash that killed them both.

Stephanie investigates Emily's past, speaking to Diana Hyland, an artist who painted a portrait of Emily. Diana says the girl in the painting is Claudia, her muse, and describes her as a con artist who disappeared. Stephanie asks about Michigan, and Diana gives Stephanie information that leads Stephanie to a yearbook showing that Emily has a twin sister, and that their real names are Hope and Faith McLanden. Stephanie meets with the twins' mother, Margaret, who explains that when they were 16 years old, the twins set fire to a wing of the house. Meanwhile, Emily surprises Sean at a cafe and tells him about her plan to collect the insurance money to resolve their financial issues.

Stephanie lures Emily into meeting her through cryptic messages on her vlog. Emily explains that she is Hope, and that the twins set the fire to kill their abusive father. The two fled and planned to rejoin later, but Faith never appeared. Emily worked hard building a career and a family when, 16 years later, Faith contacted her. Faith attempted to blackmail her for a million dollars, threatening to confess about the arson, so Emily drowned Faith in the lake. Emily lies and tells Stephanie that Sean planned the insurance scam.

Emily is angered by Sean's love for Stephanie, while Stephanie is angered by Sean's eagerness to rejoin Emily. Stephanie agrees to help Emily reappear to the public and frame Sean. Sean is arrested and released on bail. Stephanie has a change of heart and stages a fake argument with Sean in front of Emily to incriminate her, while police-planted microphones are recording. Emily predicts their ruse and has disabled the microphones. Emily confesses to the crimes, and holds the pair at gunpoint, telling them she will kill them and stage a murder-suicide. She shoots Sean in the shoulder and turns the gun on Stephanie – who reveals that she has a hidden camera live-streaming the entire event on her vlog. Emily is arrested after being struck by a car.

Closing text explains that Emily was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Sean's second novel became a New York Times bestseller and became a successful professor at Berkeley, Stephanie's vlog has one million followers and is being turned into a morning show, and that she has also become a part-time private detective

What do you think of this movie?