Directed by Paul Feig, Another Simple Favour is the sequel to A Simple Favour. Seven years after the first film came out, the audience is reunited with these two iconic frenemies for a new adventure that will take them to Italy for an entirely new, shocking, and incredibly funny mystery.
Five years have passed since the events of the first film. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) has now become a famous vlogger, amateur detective, and newly debuted writer with her book about her ex-best friend Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), who is now in prison, or so Stephanie thinks. During one of Stephanie's book signing events, none other than the recently released Emily shows up, asking her to be her maid of honour at her wedding to her old friend Dante Versano (Michele Morrone) in Capri, Italy.
While the first act of the film is mostly introductory, the second half is when the plot truly comes together in the most unexpected and mindblowing ways possible. It is everything you would expect from the sequel to a film as exciting as A Simple Favour, and more. The acting in Another Simple Favour is especially impressive and one of the standout elements of the movie. The sequel allows both Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick to bring their A-game and expand their respective characters in new, exciting ways. Both actresses display a significant amount of range in these roles and seamlessly go from drama to comedy within the same scene.
The Italian setting also helps bring this film to another level. It is especially successful in making this story feel original, despite having a very similar narrative and storytelling structure to the first instalment. As the film goes on, it also feels like Capri is much more than just a setting in Another Simple Favour. Instead, the movie embraces Capri by remaining true to some distinct elements of Italian culture. Not only does the film truly showcase the island, but the production also decided to cast Italian actors in the new roles for the characters we meet in Capri and feature classic Italian music, including the iconic Toto Cutugno's “L'Italiano”.
With a fascinating new setting and brand new characters coming into play, the stakes are somehow even higher in the sequel than in the previous movie. After all, this time, it is not just about murder – although that is very much still a key ingredient of this film. This time, the story is paired with even more twists and turns, as the danger for the characters becomes bigger and bigger with the involvement of both the mafia and the FBI. It does rely a little too much on callbacks to the previous one, especially in terms of the jokes and comedy side of things. So Another Simple Favour can sometimes struggle to exist as a film on its own merit, as the references to A Simple Favour make us constantly refer back to the first movie.
Overall, Another Simple Favour is a fun sequel. But is it better than the first film? Not necessarily. Nevertheless, it does remain true to the most exciting and defining elements of A Simple Favour. And as far as sequels go, it is a successful one in the way it heightens the stakes, explores new elements of the characters' stories, while also leaving space for the audience to be surprised within the familiar structure and setting that we know from the previous film.
Another Simple Favour is released on Amazon Prime on May 1st 2025
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