Another Simple Favor, 2025.
Directed by Paul Feig.
Starring Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Allison Janney, Michele Morrone, Elizabeth Perkins, and Henry Golding.
SYNOPSIS:
Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson reunite on the island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman, which is interrupted by murder and betrayal.
Another Simple Favor is an even more absurd and contrived sequel to the already absurd and contrived A Simple Favor (2018). While that film feels like a discount Gone Girl (2014), this one seems to be taking notes from Glass Onion (2022) and multiple other mystery films where Americans are on vacation in Europe. The cast members are clearly having fun again, but they deserve a smarter script to work with.
Paul Feig’s sequel finds Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) as a successful author of true crime books following the events of the first film. Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) is out of prison and forces Stephanie to attend her wedding, where she plans to marry a rich Italian mobster. Out of fear of being sued by Emily, Stephanie agrees to the invite and heads to Capri. Once there, Stephanie and Emily are caught up in a web of betrayal after someone is killed.
A Simple Favor is based on a novel by Darcey Bell and tells a complete story, ending in a way where a sequel is not called for. Another Simple Favor finds screenwriters Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis grasping for anything to bring Emily and Stephanie back together. The setup landed on never feels believable, and the first half of the film suffers as it tries to make it workable. The second half has a few good twists and surprises, but they aren’t strong enough to elevate the film.
The humor often feels cringey or falls flat. The filmmakers even have a sexual assault scene just so a lame incest joke can be made. There is an amusing scene involving truth serum though, and Henry Golding gets a few lines that sting with hilarity as he verbally attacks people.
Kendrick and Lively certainly have their moments to shine, and the two have fine chemistry once again. Kendrick’s jovial presence does a lot to inject scenes with energy and Lively channels her inner Barbara Stanwyck in trying to make Emily a Phyllis Dietrichson-ish character. The supporting cast around Lively and Kendrick is solid, though Allison Janney unfortunately gets little to do as a deranged aunt.
Moving the setting from the suburbs of Connecticut in A Simple Favor to Italy here allows for some beautiful locations and costumes. Feig and his team give the film a polished look, but the director mostly feels like he is on cruise control. He lets his stars and the Italian flavor do most of the work.
Another Simple Favor is bland at its best and irritating at its worst. It looks nice and has two likable stars, but everything at work feels mechanical. The producers should do the audience a simple favor and not make a third film unless they actually have a decent script.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Daniel Rester is a freelance film critic and a member of the Hollywood Creative Alliance. He holds a bachelor’s degree with a double major in Film/TV and Emerging Media and Digital Arts.
