Satisfying sequels are few and far between this time of endless reboots. My overarching question when thinking about sequels is: Why? Not why are you doing this to me, but why in conversation with the original material. Did it end in a way that speaks to a continuation of the story? Are there characters I miss seeing on screen who I’d want to see again in a new adventure?
Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor was released in 2018, and gained something of a cult following, especially among queer women who recognized the do I want to be her or do I want to be with her energy that these characters possess in spades. The costumes were fun, the writing was funny and surprisingly dark at times, and there were of course, wild twists abound. Here is where I should say that I co-hosted a multi episode podcast (A Simple Pod) where my co-hosts and I broke down the movie in almost excruciating detail. We talked to a lot of the cast and crew, including screenwriter Jessica Sharzer, director Paul Feig, and yes, even Emily (Blake Lively) herself. Suffice it to say: I am not new to the Simple Favor life, I’m true to it.
Another Simple Favor, now streaming on Prime, cleared my admittedly low bar for interest in a sequel. With Emily in jail and Stephanie making sponsored content with her mom blog and cold case investigations, it wasn’t hard to see how a second movie could come about. And in a world filled with forgettable movies that are dumped on streaming channels, Another Simple Favor is one of the better ways to spend a couple of hours.
Five years after the first movie, Stephanie has written a book based on her “friendship” with Emily, and is taken aback when the woman herself swans into her first book signing. Emily, now engaged to a super rich Italian who got her out of jail on appeal, has one more favor to ask of Stephanie. Will she be Emily’s maid of honor? In Capri? For the wedding of the century? Even though Stephanie is certain Emily is going to enact her revenge, she agrees to attend after a light bit of blackmail on Emily’s part.
From there, it’s off to Capri, where bodies start to pile up with a speed that would be alarming to anyone who didn’t live in this universe. Even knowing the strange, heightened tone of the first movie, I wasn’t quite prepare for the events of this one, including a twist that is certainly an attempt to make a full circle reference to Stephanie being a “brother fucker” — and that doesn’t work at all, and definitely deflated the energy in my screening
As ever, the relationship between Stephanie and Emily remains the most interesting part of these movies, no matter how many people end up murdered. Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick slide back into their roles with ease, tossing off little asides to each other that crackle with chemistry. Stephanie is less bowled over by Emily’s outrageous glamour and charisma than she was in the first movie, less afraid to snark back, and it adds a refreshing angle to their dynamic. It did make me happy that Stephanie is only slightly better at dressing herself in this installment, and you can almost feel the joy the costume designer must have felt putting her in one particularly troubling pair of denim shorts. Emily’s costumes are just as good as they were in the first — Dickies and suspenders and ties abound! The movie is at its best when the two of them are sharing the screen, and the pacing, especially in the back half is such that you really feel it when they are not.
Is it…explicitly queer? Well, no, but also yes? Emily calls Stephanie “baby” any chance she gets, tells her she’s hot, and in one scene, even organizes a full on date in place of her bachelorette party — just the two of them, a lot of candles, and hotel pool. But then you get not one but two separate characters accusing Stephanie of being in love with and obsessed with Emily in a way that does feel like it’s calling her predatory? Then again, the men in the movie matter not all, and it is mostly these two women trying to figure out why and how they fit into each other’s lives. Oh, and trying not to get murdered.
All in all, it’s a mostly fun time (that one scene notwithstanding) and the costumes are honestly worth the price of admission, along with the stunning shots of Capri’s landscape and narrow streets. It’s a little longer than it needs to be at a full two hours, but I imagine the pacing will feel less slow if you are on your own couch and in your own home. Grab a martini and have a night of it! It’ll be a mostly fun time, and frankly we need that now more than ever.
Another Simple Favor is now streaming on Prime.
Your review of this film reads that “it is worth he price of admission”… this mediocre film went straight to streaming. How much did you get paid to say something positive about it?
I don’t see what in her review makes you think that. She hardly gives a glowing review, acknowledging the flaws. Having seen the movie, her review is pretty dead-on: hardly a masterpiece but still a fun movie to stream at home. I think anyone who liked A Simple Favor knows going in what to expect basically from this one and the sequel does deliver on those counts. My friend and I thought it was silly campy fun. There’s a place for that.
I enjoyed it not watching the first movie. Was a fun time! Loved anna and blakes chemistry. Lots more context than i expected, they basically kept saying the other person is in love/obsessed with them. The way they play off each other was really fun and I hope they make another sequel to this!
I really enjoyed reading your take on the sequel. I totally agree that the chemistry between Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick is what makes both movies so memorable. Sometimes, after watching something intense like this, I like to unwind by playing a game—Snow Rider 3D is my recent go-to! It’s simple, doesn’t take much commitment, and always helps me relax after a suspenseful movie night.