Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a seemingly perfect widowed, craft and home-making vlogger. She forms an unlikely friendship with Emily (Blake Lively), through their sons, who is completely opposite with a fancy PR job and an attractive husband, Sean (Henry Golding). Even though they come from two different worlds, they bond over martinis and shared secrets; until Emily goes missing and Stephanie steps in to help solve the case. The secrets pile up as Stephanie gets entangled with Sean, and she uncovers more and more clues.
This was reminiscent of the mystery Gone Girl, but had humor thrown in like when Stephanie announces on one of her vlogs, “Secrets are like margarine, easy to spread, bad for the heart.” Stephanie originally meets Emily when she makes an entrance in her Porsche, wearing stilettos to pick up her son. When the two kids beg to have a playdate, Emily relents and invites Stephanie to her house. Lonely Stephanie is eager to please, and Emily exudes a calm, cool, almost too collected exterior; the two are an unlikely pair, but quickly form a kinship through their differences. When Emily asks Stephanie for ‘a simple favor’ of picking up her son and watching him for a few hours, Stephanie is happy to help, but when the care turns into days, that’s when the real mystery of the real Emily begins.
The mommy humor throughout the movie keeps it lighter than the usual thriller. I felt this movie was well cast, especially since I have a weakness for Anna Kendrick after watching Pitch Perfect a zillion times with my kids growing up. Blake Lively is best known for her part on Gossip Girl, and Henry Golding is the new break out star from Crazy Rich Asians.
For those who have read the book by the same name, I’m told that they took liberties in the movie, but that seems to be the norm for books made into movies. This movie is entertaining and keeps you wondering who really knows more than they are telling.
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Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Director: Paul Feig
Written By: Jessica Sharzer, Darcey Bell
Actors: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Jean Smart, Andrew Rannells, Eric Johnson, Sarah Baker
Running Time: 117 minutes
Rating: R (for strong language and sexual content)
