Since the mixed reception Ghostbusters: Answer the Call received in 2016, the future of director Paul Feig’s career has depended on the originality and quality of his next feature. These high stakes led Feig to attempt a peculiar combination of mystery, dark comedy and Martha Stewart-esq homemaker vlogs in his latest project, A Simple Favor.
A Simple Favor, based on a book by Darcey Bell, tells the story of single-mother Stephanie Smothers—played by Anna Kendrick—as she spends her days doting on her son Miles—Joshua Satine—and making videos for her cooking-and-crafts vlog.
Smother’s world turns upside down after her best friend Emily Nelson—Blake Lively—goes missing. This catastrophe prompts Smothers to search for clues about her friend’s whereabouts, eventually leading down the rabbit hole of Nelson’s tumultuous past.
The film’s best quality is the stunning performances from Kendrick and Lively. The two have excellent chemistry that is aided by the characters’ contrast.
Smothers starts as a very passive character who generally tries to stay out of trouble and makes sacrifices for those around her, especially her son. This is a far cry from Emily whose entire purpose revolves around getting what she wants at any cost.
Despite their differences, the way these two characters interact is incredibly enthralling. Both actresses do their best to differentiate themselves from one another while at the same time find common ground through solid dialogue. This dynamic forces the audience to care about the characters, especially when Emily goes missing.
Once the mystery begins, the film focuses on Stephanie’s development. Stephanie’s personality changes as she becomes more infatuated with discovering the truth about her friend. These changes come in at an excellent, organic pace, making Stephanie seem like a real person that the audience can connect with.
Thanks to this smooth character development, Stephanie is an incredibly resourceful and intelligent protagonist. She cleverly gathers clues and there’s never a point in which she makes unreasonably poor decisions for the sake of plot, which is a trap many screenplays fall into.
Furthermore, the mystery itself is unique. While plenty of the plot has been featured in mystery films before, the script is full of enough twists and turns to keep the audience on their toes. Some of the directions that the plot takes are genuinely surprising and do a good job of avoiding genre clichés.
The script similarly balances dramatic and comedic aspects of the film effectively. Many dramatic moments are incorporated to help flesh out the characters and emotional scenes come off as relatable and resonant.
The comedy of the work is hit or miss—plenty of early jokes fall flat. The comedic portions of the film improve in the second and third acts and are never bad enough to distract from the plot.
Regarding the film’s aesthetics, this is probably one of Feig’s best-looking films to date. The cinematography is haunting and a large variety of shots keep the film visually interesting. This attribute improves through the lighting and color pallet of the shots, giving the film a distinct mood.
The soundtrack also adds to the final product. Songs help to show a change in character. The feelings of particular people are depicted with darker melodies near the end of the film. We see that these emotions are different than they were earlier in the film, because lighter songs would play to connote friendliness and good moods. This is a fairly effective tactic overall.
A Simple Favor is a wonderfully original film that has been solidly executed. While the script is well done, the performances of Lively and Kendrick steal the show. This is a powerful return to form for Paul Feig and is worth a watch this weekend.