[ad_1]
The mystery thriller A Simple Favor was 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 Favor blends the characters’ domestic lives, the murder mystery plot, and a certain amount of glam for a unique and wild movie.
Luckily, there are similar movies to watch after watching the original film and its sequel, Another Simple Favor. Like A 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.
15
Diabolique (1955)
A Wife & Her Husband’s Mistress Plot To Kill Him
If there is one classic movie that shares much in common with A Simple Favor, it is Diabolique. 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.
Related
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 in A Simple Favor faked 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 in Diabolique, the ending is dark and more horrific than the lighthearted A Simple Favor.
14
Gone Girl (2014)
A Woman Fakes Her Death To Set Up Her Husband
In A 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. In Gone 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 Girl has a woman named Amy disappear, with plans to make it look like her husband, Nick, killed her.
Just like in A 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 in A 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 for Still Alice.
13
Promising Young Woman (2020)
A Woman Plans Revenge After Her Friend’s Suicide
In 2020, Carey Mulligan starred in the thriller movie Promising 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 her and then was cleared of any wrongdoing thanks to his wealth and family connections.
Related
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 Woman is 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 in A 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.
12
Double Jeopardy (1999)
A Woman Uses A Legal Loophole To Get Away With Murder
- Release Date
-
September 24, 1999
- Runtime
-
105 minutes
- Director
-
Bruce Beresford
-
Ashley Judd
Libby Parsons
-
-
Bruce Greenwood
Nick Parsons
-
Annabeth Gish
Angie Green
While Emily didn’t get away with murder in A 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 Jeopardy is named after the law that says a person can’t be convicted twice for the same crime if 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 in A 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 than Gone Girl, as in A Simple Favor, the deceiving party paid for their crimes.
11
The Third Man (1949)
A Man Learns His Friend Faked His Death
- Release Date
-
1959 – 1964
- Network
-
BBC One
- Directors
-
Paul Stanley, Arthur Hiller, Paul Henreid, Robert M. Leeds
- Writers
-
AJ Carothers, Hagar Wilde
-
-
-
-
Dawn Addams
Colonel Dimonella
A Third Man has a very different feeling from movies like A Simple Favor, but they are based on the same ideas. While A Simple Favor is a lightweight drama about a woman who fakes her own death, and her friend who uncovers the truth, The Third Man is 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 in A 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 Man has been listed as one of the greatest British films ever made by various publications.
10
I Care A Lot (2020)
A Corrupt Guardian Of The Elderly Goes Head-To-Head With The Mob
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. Both Saltburn and I Care a Lot, recent projects starring Pike, are movies 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. Like A Simple Favor, I Care a Lot is driven by a character who will do anything to maintain her status. Additionally, I Care a Lot illustrates the characters’ personas by having them approach criminal activity as just another part of their mundane lives.
9
Happy Death Day (2017)
A College Student Is Stuck In A Time Loop Until She Can Identify Her Killer
6/10
- Release Date
-
October 13, 2017
- Runtime
-
96 minutes
- Director
-
Christopher Landon
-
Jessica Rothe
Theresa ‘Tree’ Gelbman
-
Israel Broussard
Carter Davis
Happy Death Day comprises a classic whodunit murder mystery with a twist that fans of A Simple Favor will 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 of A Simple Favor, where the central love triangle heightens the crazy conspiracy and makes interpersonal relationships more tense. Happy Death Day is dramatic, campy fun, featuring a plucky heroine who is able to make the best out of a bad situation.
8
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
An Aspiring Journalist Enters The Ruthless World Of Producing A Fashion Magazine
The Devil Wears Prada has all the glamour of A Simple Favor minus the murder, while Miranda Priestly is doubtlessly one of Meryl Streep’s best roles. Miranda is the brutal editor-in-chief of a prestigious fashion magazine who commands every scene she is in and 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 Prada is still a beloved comedy, with its perfect makeover scenes and sharp humor that showcases the despicable yet sympathetic cast.
7
Rough Night (2017)
Rough Night Shows A Bachelorette Party Taking A Dangerous Turn
6/10
- Release Date
-
June 16, 2017
- Director
-
Lucia Aniello
- Writers
-
Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello
Rough Night starts 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, but Rough Night delivers 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 Favor shows a friendship between the main characters that turns out to be toxic. For a change of pace, Rough Night focuses on genuine friendships that only become stronger throughout the movie.
6
Mr. Right (2015)
Anna Kendrick Stars As An Ordinary Woman Who Falls For A Hitman
- Release Date
-
February 29, 2016
- Runtime
-
90 minutes
- Director
-
Paco Cabezas
-
Sam Rockwell
Martha McKay
-
-
-
James Ransone
Von Cartigan
Anna Kendrick is iconic as the “doesn’t care about anything” character in Pitch Perfect, but the other archetype she excels at is characters like Stephanie, who are awkward and unsure but surprise themselves when they are launched into a crime plot. In Mr. 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.
Related
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 in The 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 Menu has a glamorous setting and premise, a terrifying conflict, and some dark jokes that are still very funny.
[ad_2]
Source link