Need a flick that’s gonna make your forget everything outside it for two hours? I adore 2018’s A Simple Favor for how it manages precisely that, with a verve that is all too absent from the screen of late. This cozy mystery (that is, the kind that centers an amateur detective and doesn’t focus on blood or gore) sends the irresistible Anna Kendrick down all sorts of rabbit holes as she investigates the disappearance of her friend and fellow suburban mom Emily (Blake Lively). Director Paul Feig is the rare male filmmaker who really seems to get women, and here he finds a winning mix of comedy, suspense, and feminism as the tale traverses such wildly emotional and contentious subjects as female friendships, domestic discord, marital secrets, and maternal competition. This really should have been a much bigger hit than it was. (Read my 2018 review.)
US: stream on Prime and MGM+; rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
UK: stream on Lionsgate+ (via Prime); rent on BFI Player and Curzon Home Cinema; rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
See A Simple Favor at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
