The mystery thrillerA Simple Favorwas so popular that it resulted in an unexpected sequel several years later. In the movie, Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie and Blake Lively’s Emily are both mothers of elementary-school-aged children; when they become friends, Stephanie becomes enamored with Emily’s elegant and secretive life. When Emily goes missing,A Simple Favorblends the characters' domestic lives, the murder mystery plot, and a certain amount of glamfor a uniqueand wild movie.
Luckily, there are similar movies to watch after watching the original filmand its sequel,Another Simple Favor. LikeA Simple Favor,many of these movies feature mystery or thriller plots driven by female characters.Most of the protagonists are decidedly ordinary people, doing their best to manage work, relationships, and kids, when they are hit with a murder conspiracy or pulled into someone else’s criminal life. Fans of characters with Emily’s glamorous manipulation abilities or Stephanie’s naivete-turned-viciousness will find what they are looking for in these movies.
Diabolique
Cast
Diabolique is a French psychological horror film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The story revolves around two women, Christina, the wife of the cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, and Nicole, a teacher who is also involved with him. The two women form an unlikely alliance to murder the cruel man, but their plan takes an unexpected turn, leading to a series of eerie and terrifying events.
If there is one classic movie that shares much in common withA Simple Favor, it isDiabolique. This French film is about a woman named Christina, a teacher at a second-rate boarding school run by her cruel husband, Michel. He is not only cruel to the students, but he is also abusive to his wife.Michel is also cheating on her with another teacher in the school named Nicole. However, while this could lead the two women into a combative relationship with each other, both of them share a hatred of Michel.
A Simple Favor Cast Guide
A Simple Favor is a black comedy crime thriller starring a recognizable cast. Here are the shows and television series you may know the actors from.
This leads the two women to devise a plan where they will kill Michel and move on from his abusive ways. The entire situation seems interesting, as Emily inA Simple Favorfaked her own death but then grows jealous when Stephanie begins to grow close to him. The two movies also include major twists and turns and ends with the schemers getting caught in their own lies, although inDiabolique, the ending is dark and more horrific than the lightheartedA Simple Favor.
Gone Girl
Based on Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel, Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as Nick and Amy Dunne, a couple whose disintegrating marriage is rocked by Amy’s sudden disappearance and Nick’s suspected hand in it. As evidence begins to pile up against Nick, it eventually becomes clear with a shocking twist that all is not what it seems. Flynn also wrote the screenplay for the film, with David Fincher directing.
InA Simple Favor, Blake Lively plays Emily Nelson, a woman who fakes her own death after killing one of her triplet sisters, who was blackmailing her. This faked death was done to protect herself, but was also a way to collect her own insurance money and flee the country. InGone Girl, things are a little different, but the plan still involves a woman faking her own death. Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn,Gone Girlhas a woman named Amy disappear, with plans to make it look like her husband, Nick, killed her.
Just like inA Simple Favor, there was more than one twist and turn in the story…
This is because Nick had begun cheating on Amy and planned to leave her, so she planned the elaborate disappearance to ruin his life. Just like inA Simple Favor, there was more than one twist and turn in the story, but unlike the latter movie, the vindictive wife got away with her plans here, but not in the way that she suspected when she first disappeared. The film earned Rosamund Pike an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, although she lost to Julianne Moore forStill Alice.
13Promising Young Woman (2020)
A Woman Plans Revenge After Her Friend’s Suicide
In 2020, Carey Mulligan starred in the thriller moviePromising Young Woman. This film saw Mulligan play a young woman named Cassie, a medical school dropout who works in a coffee shop and spends most of her time club and bar hopping while pretending to be drunk. This is because, years prior,her lifelong best friend Nina Fisher died by suicide when a young man raped herand then was cleared of any wrongdoing thanks to his wealth and family connections.
10 Movies To Watch If You Like Promising Young Woman
Fans of Promising Young Woman’s empowering female-centric take on revenge thrillers should also check out these 10 similar movies too.
Promising Young Womanis a revenge film, with Cassie seeking to get vengeance against the man who raped her friend and the other people responsible for covering it up. Much like inA Simple Favor, this is the case of a woman pretending to be someone she isn’t to get what she wants after a lifetime of trauma. Mulligan was highly praised for her performance and went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Actress while the film won Best Original Screenplay.
Double Jeopardy
Double Jeopardy is a legal thriller starring Ashley Judd as Libby Parsons, who is wrongfully convicted for the murder of her husband, Nick. After discovering he is still alive, Libby seeks to reunite with her son, navigating the legal system to exploit the titular legal loophole to seek justice.
While Emily didn’t get away with murder inA Simple Favor, she was actively looking for a loophole where she would get away with the deed by making it look like her triplet’s body was her own. There was a movie in 1999 that showed a way to get away with murder legally.Double Jeopardyis named afterthe law that says a person can’t be convicted twice for the same crimeif they were found guilty of it once before. It stars Ashley Judd as a woman named Libby who is convicted of murder after her husband disappears.
When Libby learns her husband faked his own death, she finds out she can kill him when she gets out of prison and can’t be found guilty of it, since she was already found guilty of killing him once before. Just like inA Simple Favor,the movies have someone faking their own death for selfish reasons and then have their significant other learn the truth. It also played out differently thanGone Girl, as inA Simple Favor, the deceiving party paid for their crimes.
The Third Man
The Third Man, released in 1949, is a British film noir directed by Carol Reed. Set in post-World War II Vienna, it stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, an American pulp novelist who investigates the mysterious death of his friend, Harry Lime, portrayed by Orson Welles, amidst a landscape of escalating tension and intrigue.
A Third Manhas a very different feeling from movies likeA Simple Favor,but they are based on the same ideas. WhileA Simple Favoris a lightweight drama about a woman who fakes her own death, and her friend who uncovers the truth,The Third Manis a classic film noir about a man named Holly Martins(Joseph Cotton) who travels to Vienna when he learns his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles) died there. However, while in his hotel, he looks out the window and sees Harry, alive and well.
It turns out that Lime has been involved in shady deals and has murdered more than one person, sending Holly into a spiral of confusion, deceit, and danger. Just like inA SImple Favor, Holly ends up in grave danger when he learns of his friend’s schemes and realizes that even his friend would kill him to keep his secrets hidden.The Third Manhas been listed as one of the greatest British films ever made by various publications.
I Care A Lot
I Care A Lot stars Rosamund Pike as Marla Grayson, a con artist who makes money by becoming a court-appointed guardian for elderly people she claims can’t take care of themselves, and then stealing their life’s savings. But things don’t go according to plan when she tries to do the same thing to a mother of a dangerous mob boss.
Like Lively,Rosamund Pike can always pull off a character who is immaculately fashionable and demonstrates a poised disposition,wielding a veneer of respectability to get whatever she wants. BothSaltburnandI Care a Lot, recent projects starring Pike, aremovies where all the characters are horrible people. In the latter, Pike portrays a seemingly average caretaker of the elderly who is viciously determined to become incredibly rich and steals the assets of her wards to make it happen.
However, the movie takes a strange,A Simple Favor-like turn when Marla forces another elderly woman into a nursing home, only to find out that she is the mother of a mob boss. LikeA Simple Favor,I Care a Lotis driven by a character who will do anything to maintain her status.Additionally,I Care a Lotillustrates the characters' personasby having them approach criminal activity as just another part of their mundane lives.
Happy Death Day
Happy Death Day is a horror-comedy film directed by Christopher Landon. Released in 2017, it follows college student Tree Gelbman, played by Jessica Rothe, who is forced to relive the day of her murder repeatedly until she can identify her killer and stop her death. The film blends elements of slasher horror with dark humor, creating a unique entry in the genre.
Happy Death Daycomprises a classic whodunit murder mystery with a twistthat fans ofA Simple Favorwill enjoy. It also mixes mundanity with absurdity in a plot that leads to the protagonist living a happier life as a byproduct of surviving (many) murder attempts. The opening sequence shows how Tree is just a regular college student, living through parties, hook-ups, and strained relationships until she is killed by a masked assailant.
Ultimately,the motive for Tree’s murder is petty jealousy, while Tree has to sift through the drama of all her peers before she gets to the answer.It recalls the romantic entanglements ofA Simple Favor, where the central love triangle heightens the crazy conspiracy and makes interpersonal relationships more tense.Happy Death Dayis dramatic, campy fun, featuring a plucky heroine who is able to make the best out of a bad situation.
The Devil Wears Prada
Based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel, The Devil Wears Prada stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, an aspiring journalist who, after landing a job with top New York fashion designer Miranda Priestly, gets drawn deeper and deeper into the cutthroat world of the fashion industry. Meryl Streep stars alongside Hathaway as Miranda Priestly, with a further cast that includes Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, and Simon Baker.
The Devil Wears Pradahas all the glamour ofA Simple Favorminus the murder, while Miranda Priestly is doubtlessly one ofMeryl Streep’s best roles.Miranda is the brutal editor-in-chief of a prestigious fashion magazine who commands every scene she is inand leaves everyone around her in the dust. Comparisons can be drawn between her character and Emily, but Miranda doesn’t even pretend to be nice at first.
The Devil Wears Prada is still a beloved comedy, with its perfect makeover scenes and sharp humor that showcases the despicable yet sympathetic cast.
Meanwhile,Anna Hathaway’s Andy struggles to keep up but eventually manages to impress Miranda and discovers that she will also step on others to further her own interests,but decides to leave it all behind. Emily Blunt also gives a great performance as the fashionista co-worker Andy betrays in her breakout role.The Devil Wears Pradais still a beloved comedy, with its perfect makeover scenes and sharp humor that showcases the despicable yet sympathetic cast.
Rough Night
Rough Night is a dark comedy film directed by Lucia Aniello. Released in 2017, it stars Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz, and Kate McKinnon as a group of friends who reunite for a bachelorette party in Miami. Their celebration takes a drastic turn when a male stripper accidentally dies, leading them into a series of chaotic and comedic misadventures as they attempt to deal with the situation.
Rough Nightstarts with the premise of college friends reuniting for one’s bachelorette party, which leads to one crazy turn after another. The"night of partying gone wrong"premise is not exactly new, butRough Nightdelivers laughs and has a great cast of leading stars and cameos.Amid all the craziness, the group resolves strained friendships and romances, which is one of the movie’s strongest elements.
The characters would hopefully have been able to fix their relationship troubles without being threatened by criminals, but in the context of the movie, it is a silver lining that brings levity to a comedically dangerous situation.A Simple Favorshows a friendship between the main characters that turns out to be toxic. For a change of pace,Rough Nightfocuses on genuine friendships that only become stronger throughout the movie.
Mr. Right
Mr. Right is a film released in 2016, featuring a woman who falls for an ideal partner, only to discover he is a hitman evading crime cartels. The narrative explores their relationship dynamics amidst the ensuing chaos of his clandestine occupation.
Anna Kendrick is iconic as the"doesn’t care about anything"character inPitch Perfect, but the other archetype she excels at ischaracters like Stephanie, who are awkward and unsure but surprise themselves when they are launched into a crime plot.InMr. Right, Martha is a regular woman recovering from a breakup who is exhausted by dating. However, her next date is absolutely perfect, except for the fact that Francis is a hitman on the run from his employers.
Anna Kendrick’s 20 Best Movies, Ranked
Anna Kendrick has led a franchise, voiced beloved characters, and been nominated for an Academy Award throughout her impressive filmography.
Another couple planning an ordinary if extravagant date night lands in the middle of a modern haunted house scenario inThe Menu.This black comedy has been praised for its razor-sharp commentary and perfect execution,where a group of elite diners travels to a secluded island to taste the creations of one of the greatest chefs in the world and get much more than what they paid for.The Menuhas a glamorous setting and premise, a terrifying conflict, and some dark jokes that are still very funny.
