A few years back, comedy director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) ventured into the thriller genre with the surprisingly good A Simple Favor. Well, he’s teamed up with A Simple Favor costars Blake Lively (It Ends with Us) and Anna Kendrick (Woman of the Hour) once again for the sequel, which is appropriately called Another Simple Favor.
Another Simple Favor picks up with our heroines five years after the events of A Simple Favor, with Emily (Lively) in jail for murder and Stephanie (Kendrick) hocking the book she wrote about the whole experience. At one of Stephanie’s promotional book signings, Emily shows up unannounced, out of jail on appeal. She invites Stephanie to be the Maid of Honor at her wedding that is taking place on the Italian island of Capri (what?). After a combination of emotional blackmail and threats of lawsuits, Stephanie reluctantly agrees. And the intrigue of her and Emily’s relationship continues.
A Simple Favor was one of those movies that switched tone on a dime, going from a raunchy buddy comedy to a dark mystery at about the halfway point. Feig probably realized that he couldn’t pull off a surprise like that again, so he and writers Jessica Sharzer (who also wrote A Simple Favor) and Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) lean more into black comedy than tense thriller with Another Simple Favor. This decision actually works in the movie’s favor, as the storyline is packed with absurdity and ridiculousness, so there is really no way that an audience can take it completely seriously.
Once on the island, Another Simple Favor lets all its flags fly. There’s Emily’s fiancé’s mysterious, possibly mob-related family. There’s Emily’s oddball mother and aunt (Weeds’ Elizabeth Perkins and Mom’s Allison Janney, respectively) who show up out of the blue. And who’s that strange woman who seems to be following Stephanie, both in America and in Italy? And none of this even touches upon how suspicious Stephanie still is of Emily and her motives for inviting her in the first place. The multiple colorful characters and deftly crafted plotting make Another Simple Favor seem almost like a Knives Out spinoff.
This is where the movie doesn’t quite work as well as its predecessor. With A Simple Favor, the blend of dark comedy and psychological thriller was seamless. With Another Simple Favor, the humor and the mystery don’t quite mesh as well. The humor is there—the movie is funny, even hysterical at times. And the mystery does keep the audience guessing, to the point where they’ve probably talked themselves out of believing something that is definitely happening (thanks to the incredibly unreliable narrators sprinkled throughout). It’s the combination that causes an odd tonality. The two movies-in-one thing isn’t quite as effective as it could (and should) be.
Still, it’s a fun romp, filled with over-the-top performances that chew every inch of the stunning scenery. The exotic locations seem to amplify the quirkiness of the characters. But, as a sequel, audiences are on to what Feig is doing here. It’s hard to provide the unexpected when people know what to expect. Another Simple Favor has fun and interesting twists, just like A Simple Favor, but now, audiences are looking for that.
Unfortunately for Another Simple Favor, there’s a stigma attached to Blake Lively, and it will most likely hurt the movie’s performance, both critically and commercially. And it’s a necessary evil, because quite honestly, Lively is the only actress who could play Emily Nelson. So, the sword is double-edged: either the movie gets review-bombed based on her reputation, or the movie suffers from inadequate recasting. Judged by its own merits, Another Simple Favor made the right choice with Lively. And Emily isn’t exactly a likable character anyway, so there’s that little silver lining.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Another Simple Favor relies heavily on the history of its characters and their relationship, so a refresher viewing of A Simple Favor beforehand is a good idea just to keep up with the sly winks and nods that are peppered throughout. It’s much more fun to watch Stephanie and Emily verbally spar when you get all their inside jokes.
While not quite as effective as A Simple Favor, Another Simple Favor is worth watching, especially for fans of the first movie. The characters are just as interesting as they were then, and they find themselves in situations that are just as intriguing. But it’s not surprising here. It feels like it’s all par for the course. It feels like we’ve seen it before.
GRADE: B-
Rating: R for sexual content, nudity, language throughout, suicide, and violence
Release Date: May 1, 2025 on Prime Video
Running Time: 2 hours
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