A Simple Favor Dvd

A Simple Favor is a 2018 American black comedy crime thriller film directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Jessica Sharzer, based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, and Jean Smart and follows a small town vlogger who tries to solve the disappearance of her mysterious and elegant friend.

A Simple Favor was released in the United States on September 14, 2018 by Lionsgate. Critics praised the plot twists, and the performances of Kendrick, Lively and Golding. The film grossed $97 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Plot

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is a widowed single mother who runs a vlog featuring crafts and recipes for parents. Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) is a PR director for a fashion company. The two women become friends when their sons share a play date. Over martinis, they exchange confessions; Stephanie admits to Emily 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 (Henry Golding), and their poor financial situation.

Emily has a work crisis and asks Stephanie to babysit her son while Sean is in London attending to his injured mother. After two days with Emily not returning her calls, Stephanie calls Emily’s employer, Dennis Nylon, and is told that Emily is in Miami. Stephanie then calls Sean, who contacts the police. Trying to solve her disappearance, Stephanie looks for answers by sneaking into Emily’s office, where she comes across a photo of Emily that was hidden on her desk. Stephanie had wanted to make missing person flyers but could not find any pictures of Emily until finding this one; she uses it to make the posters.

Detective Summerville reports that Emily lied about flying to Miami and that she rented a car. A fan of Stephanie’s vlog reports seeing Emily in Michigan and Emily’s car is discovered near a summer camp where police find her drowned body in the lake. Stephanie and Sean bond over their shared grief and begin a sexual relationship. Detective Summerville 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 her half-brother, causing Stephanie to recall how her late husband, Davis, suspected her infidelity and may have intentionally caused the car crash that took both his and her half-brother’s lives. 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 provides information that leads Stephanie to a yearbook showing that Emily is actually Hope McLanden and that she has an identical twin named 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, killing their father. Meanwhile, Emily surprises Sean at their favorite restaurant and tells him about her plan to collect the insurance money to resolve their financial issues and leave the country.

Stephanie lures Emily into meeting her through cryptic messages on her vlog hinting when she would be at Emily’s gravesite. Emily explains that she is Hope and that she and her sister started the fire to kill their abusive father. The two fled and planned to reunite later, but Faith never appeared. Emily worked hard building a career and a family when, 14 years later, Faith contacted her. Now an alcoholic and a heroin addict, Faith attempted to blackmail Emily for a million dollars, threatening to confess about the arson. After agreeing, the two went swimming in the lake and Emily drowned Faith. Emily lies to Stephanie, however, claiming that Faith committed suicide and that Sean planned the insurance scam.

Emily is angered by Sean’s relationship with Stephanie, while Stephanie is angered by Sean’s eagerness to rejoin Emily. Stephanie agrees to help Emily reappear to the public and frame Sean by making it look as if he had been abusing her. 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. Stephanie then fakes shooting Sean. But Emily had predicted their ruse and had found and disabled the microphones. Emily confesses to her 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 he became a successful professor at Berkeley. Stephanie is dating another man. Her vlog has one million followers and is being turned into a morning show; she has also become a part-time private detective. In a post-credits scene, Emily is seen in prison, winning a basketball game against other prisoners.

Cast

Anna Kendrick as Stephanie Smothers
Blake Lively as Emily Nelson / Hope McLanden and Faith McLanden
Nicole Peters & Lauren Peters as Hope McLanden and Faith McLanden (16 years old)
Henry Golding as Sean Townsend
Andrew Rannells as Darren
Linda Cardellini as Diana Hyland
Jean Smart as Margaret McLanden
Rupert Friend as Dennis Nylon
Eric Johnson as Davis
Dustin Milligan as Chris
Bashir Salahuddin as Detective Summerville
Joshua Satine as Miles Smothers
Ian Ho as Nicky Nelson
Kelly McCormack as Stacy
Sarah Baker as Maryanne Chelkowsky