A Simple Favor

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a widowed, overly enthusiastic mommy vlogger living in suburban Connecticut. She strikes up an unlikely, intense friendship with Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), an enigmatic, glamorous, and razor-sharp fashion PR executive whose son attends the same elementary school. Stephanie is captivated by Emily’s sophisticated, boundary-pushing lifestyle and dark humor. When Emily asks Stephanie for a "simple favor"—to pick up her son after school—and subsequently vanishes without a trace, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate. Digging into Emily’s mysterious past alongside Emily’s handsome husband, Sean (Henry Golding), Stephanie uncovers a labyrinth of secrets, double identities, betrayal, and deadly deception.

⭐ Film Evaluation & Ratings 📈

🟡 IMDb Rating: 6.8 / 10

🍅 Rotten Tomatoes: 84% Tomatometer (Critics) | 73% Popcornmeter (Audience)

🗣️ Critical Consensus: Directed by Paul Feig, A Simple Favor received widespread praise for its stylish blending of dark comedy, suburban noir mystery, and campy melodrama. Critics highlighted the crackling chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, celebrating Lively's magnetic, sharply dressed performance and the film's unpredictable narrative twists.

Analysis & Key Themes

Suburban Facades & Secret Identities: Exposes the dark, chaotic truths hidden behind polished, picture-perfect domestic lives and social media personas.

Complex Female Dynamic & Erotic Tension: Explores the fine line between female friendship, rivalry, fascination, and seductive power dynamics, underscored by a surprising kiss and shared secrets.

Perception vs. Reality: Centers on characters performing roles—the perfect mother, the glamorous executive, the grieving husband—while concealing calculated motives beneath.

Camp & Noir Style: Combines classic Gone Girl-style neo-noir tropes with chic French pop music, high-fashion suits, and sharp, dark humor.

Key Scene

The Afternoon Afternoon Martini & Kiss: In Emily’s ultra-modern home, over freshly mixed martinis, Emily coaxes Stephanie into sharing her deeply guarded personal secrets. As the psychological intimacy and liquor take hold, Emily impulsively kisses Stephanie, setting off a complex dynamic of fascination, vulnerability, and manipulation that drives the rest of the story.

💡 Did You Know?

Custom Suit Wardrobe: Costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus and Blake Lively chose to dress Emily almost exclusively in sharply tailored men's suits and tuxedos, taking inspiration from fashion icons like Ralph Lauren and Helmut Newton.

Sequel Greenlit: Following the commercial and critical success of the original, a sequel (A Simple Favor 2) was produced, bringing back director Paul Feig alongside stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in Capri, Italy.

French Pop Soundtrack: Paul Feig populated the soundtrack with 1960s French Yé-yé and pop classics (including tracks by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot) to give the suburban Connecticut thriller an chic, retro-European atmosphere.