When the sequel to “A Simple Favor” was announced, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Directed by Paul Feig (“Jackpot”), the original comedy thriller is a solid standalone movie that tells the story of Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick, “Pitch Perfect”) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively, “It Ends With Us”). The two unlikely friends become entangled in a mystery after the latter’s disappearance. While the narrative involves larger thriller elements, it centers the relationship between Stephanie and Emily, who are both perfect and toxic for one another. With its smaller, character-centric storyline and clean-cut ending, “A Simple Favor” didn’t seem like it needed a sequel.
After watching “Another Simple Favor,” I’m still not sold. Set five years after the events of the first film, Stephanie is now an author and cold case detective in addition to running a popular mom vlog channel. Emily is fresh out of jail, after being convicted for the murder of her twin sister in the first film, and is getting married to a mafia boss in Capri. She invites Stephanie to be her maid of honor, and after some minor blackmail, Stephanie reluctantly agrees.
From the moment Emily arrives on screen, viewers are thrust into a much larger, much stranger world than they previously knew. In Capri, we are quickly introduced to a swath of characters alongside the familiar faces of the first movie. Among the new cast are Michele Morrone (“Home Sweet Home: Rebirth”) as Dante Versano, mob boss and Emily’s groom-to-be, and Elena Sofia Ricci (“La Farfalla Impazzita”) as Portia, Dante’s mother who hates Emily with a burning passion. We also have Emily’s Aunt Linda (Allison Janney, “Lou”), whose motivations are as unclear as the film’s plot.
With the number of character introductions muddying the plot, the movie’s focus is unclear until wedding guests begin turning up dead, nearly 40 minutes in. The new cast takes the relatively contained mystery of the first film to an over-the-top whodunit, with too many characters to properly flesh out. Although the twists weren’t quite impossible to track, they were so frequent and random that I was getting dizzy trying to make sense of it all. “A Simple Favor” shone in its intricate character work, where the relationship between Stephanie and Emily blossomed, then shattered as the story unfolded. Now, there are so many plot threads, like a brewing mob war or lurking FBI agent or whatever Linda is up to, that the film can’t dedicate as much time to its characters as before. It’s easy to get lost in the increasingly elaborate hijinks.
The film is at its best when continuing Stephanie and Emily’s strange relationship. One example is Emily’s bachelorette party, where Kendrick and Lively banter with each other while sipping martinis in a private pool. Their conversation is both complimentary and spiteful, fueled by a mixture of resentment and admiration. Stephanie and Emily are guarded with one another yet know each other’s most intimate secrets. They understand each other better than anyone else, which makes it impossible for them to stay apart. These dialogue-heavy scenes recall the charm of the first film. The issue, however, is how rare these moments are. Although there are a solid number of laughs, there are just as many confusing moments, especially toward the film’s conclusion.
To Feig’s credit, “Another Simple Favor” is fully aware of its strangeness. Between lavish wedding decor and Emily’s eclectic wardrobe, the film fully embraces its gaudiness. Watching Blake Lively waltz through the streets of Capri, practically drowning in a massive sun hat, did elicit a good laugh from me. However, the camp doesn’t save the film from its own insanity. I love movies that are so bad they’re good, and I can appreciate when filmmakers commit to madness. Unfortunately, “Another Simple Favor” doesn’t quite come full circle. Just because the film is consciously unhinged doesn’t make it work.
“Another Simple Favor” doesn’t quite work as a sequel yet can’t stand alone either. It requires the context of the first film, but the tonal switch between the two might give you whiplash. I still don’t understand why this film was necessary. In its attempts to make a campy, glamorous whodunit, “Another Simple Favor” fails to recreate the charm of its predecessor, leaving a bedazzled dumpster fire instead. But if you’re prepared to spend two hours in a fever dream with Blake Lively competing with herself for worst dressed, feel free to give it a shot.
Summer Senior Arts Editor Morgan Sieradski can be reached at kmsier@umich.edu.
