A Simple Favor (2018)

A tightly-wound mommy-vlogger falls in with a sophisticated ex-model celebrity-wife who empowers the mommy vlogger to live a little, to never be sorry, to abandon shame and then disappears without trace, prompting the mommy-vlogger to turn all Nancy Drew as she conducts an amateur investigation, in this mystery thriller with a run-of-the-mill Gone Girl plot enlivened by sass, good-humour and great performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively - it is just a shame refreshing feminist messages at the start are pretty much deemed sociopathic and are run-through by the end.

★★★☆☆

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The Shallows (2016)

Despite a rather bewildering climax, at just 80-odd minutes, this is a punchy thriller in the vein of the 2015-2016 spate of single-location, simply-themed confined-space thrillers (Green Room, Don't Breathe, Lights Out) featuring a likeable Blake Lively as a med student surfie struggling to stay alive on a rock at sea with a viscous shark circling, high tide approaching, and just a seagull for company.

★★★☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS