Upamanyu Biswas
Helmed by Paul Feig, ‘A Simple Favor’ and ‘Another Simple Favor‘ are two black comedy mystery movies centered on the relationship between Stephanie Smothers, a mommy vlogger, and Emily Nelson, her enigmatic friend who constantly draws trouble wherever she goes. After running into each other at an elementary school while picking up their kids, the two individuals get intertwined in a larger-than-life conspiracy flooded with lies, deception, and subterfuge. As such, Stephanie finds herself embroiled in a difficult situation as she tries to understand how the numerous crimes taking place around her link to Emily, who is clearly more than she seems. While both films revolve around heightened thriller conceits, they capture life’s unpredictability through plot twists and complicated characters with conflicting motivations.
A Simple Favor is Rooted in a Thriller Novel
Written by Jessica Sharzer, ‘A Simple Favor,’ the first movie in the franchise, takes its cues from the eponymous 2017 thriller novel by Darcey Bell. The novel utilizes the unreliable narrator technique to create an intricate story where no one can be trusted. When discussing the tale’s real-world connections, Bell told the Washington Independent Review of Books, “As a preschool teacher, I spend a lot of time talking with moms with young children who are often lonely, fiercely protective, and loving parents. To be honest, a lot of the mothers I meet are at least a little like Stephanie. Maybe every mother is, but some know how to hide it better than others! But no sapphire rings or cabins for me.” The movie largely follows the same story as the source material, with some minor differences in character details and events.
In the novel, Stephanie runs a blog website, which runs in contrast to her vlogging career in the film. A similar trend is followed by Sean, Emily’s husband, who is depicted as a real estate agent in the book, while in the movie, he is a college professor and novelist. The creative team also rehashed some of the character motivations, adding ambiguity in certain places for greater effect. For instance, the identity of Miles’ biological father is revealed concretely in the book, but the same is not true in the movie because Stephanie’s flashbacks leave more questions than answers. This opens up the debate regarding Miles’ real parentage and provides an additional layer of interpretation of the story material. However, the overarching theme of the narrative in both mediums remains an adherence to suspenseful storytelling and numerous plot twists.
One of the biggest things Bell wanted to capture in her story was the feeling of anticipation. A large part of that came from shifty characters who occupy a morally grey mind space. No one embodies this better than Emily, an enigmatic presence who brings a lot of uncertainty to any situation. The novelist stated that she looked at Edgar Allan Poe’s story ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ while alighting upon the thematic underpinnings of the narrative and Emily’s place within it. “Emily was so compelling to me because she learned how to use the pleasure in this impulse to gain power — and look good doing it. But I also think her love for her son makes her more complicated than any old devil,” she said. The conflicting rationales of each character add to the story’s realism. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Another Simple Favor Captures the Deceptive Nature of Humanity
While fictional in conception, ‘A Simple Favor’ and its sequel, ‘Another Simple Favor,’ center on similar ideas but differentiated through scale. In the second movie, scripted by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis, there is a larger focus on the complicated bond between Stephanie and Emily, who find themselves in each other’s orbits after an Italian businessman releases the latter from prison. Unlike the first installation, the sequel is not based on a novel featuring an entirely original tale that delves deeper into the dark side of humanity. “We live in a world that makes it seem like we can know anyone by typing names into Google and stalking social-media pages. No one is ever transparent — some are just better at hiding parts of themselves than others!” Darcy Bell said.
Like its predecessor, ‘Another Simple Favor’ highlights numerous societal aspects, including traditional gender roles and childhood abuse. It draws attention to the idea of a perfect facade and how it hides something darker underneath. As a result, the narrative breeds a feeling of distrust throughout, adding to the complexity from various angles. Its reliance on plot twists also shows how a situation can flip when new information comes to light at a moment’s notice. This is particularly true when breaking down a case from multiple perspectives and understanding the reasons driving the actions. As such, both movies encourage the audience to engage with the material on screen and make their own conclusion about the movie’s events, calling for a higher level of interpretation.
In an interview with Forbes, director Paul Feig explained how his desire to explore Stephanie and Emily’s characters prompted the sequel. He focused on Stephanie’s development from an innocent mother to someone who understands the impact of crime by the end of the first movie as a trigger point for the sequel’s premise. Meanwhile, the same is true to an extent for Emily, who Feig described as “a delicious character.” He expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that Emily is confined in jail, which is her fate at the end of the first movie. “You hate the idea of somebody like that just rotting in prison. They could be out being fabulously awful in the world. It was too much catnip to turn down,” he said. Thus, both characters and their ensuing drama built the foundation for the movie’s central mystery and intrigue.
Stephanie Smothers is a Vlogger With Vague Ties to Reality
In ‘A Simple Favor’ and ‘Another Simple Favor,’ the leading figure within the drama remains Stephanie Smothers, a single mother trying to juggle parenthood with her vlogging career. Although the character is fictional, she was brought to life by Darcy Bell in the original novel. In the book, the character is named Stephanie Ward, which is slightly different from the movie counterpart’s. The novelist stated that the character shares a lot of similarities with real-life mothers with young children. As mentioned before, Bell described them as “often lonely, fiercely protective, and loving parents” based on her interactions with them. To that end, Stephanie can be viewed as a representation of the worries, fears, and strength embodied by mothers worldwide.
It was important to Bell to introduce a complex internal conflict within Stephanie that was different from her external situation. “Stephanie, the mom blogger, and Stephanie, the best friend and lonely widow, are two very different people. I wanted to build and expose the tension not only between Stephanie, Emily, and Sean, but also between Stephanie and herself,” she said. To that end, the character taps into the zeitgeist, showcasing how social media can create a rift between a person’s projected personality and who they are in real life. In a sense, the novelist wanted to use these elements to critique the “performance” aspect of maintaining a blog/vlog and the challenges it poses in one’s personal life. Therefore, the character touches upon various realistic themes, adding to her complex journey.
Read More: Another Simple Favor Ending Explained: Who is the Killer?
