Another Simple Favour

Director Paul Feig’s first ever sequel doesn’t simply repeat the beats from the original 2018 jet-black comedy/thriller, but it does recapture the mesmerising chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively.

Premise: Amateur detective, true crime vlogger and author Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is taken by surprise when Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) is released from prison on appeal and immediately invites Stephanie to be her maid-of-honour at her upcoming wedding in Italy.  But Emily’s true motives remain a mystery, and soon the wedding party is rocked by a murder...

Review:

As much as I’ve enjoyed many of director Paul Feig’s more larger-than-life comedies (like The Heat, Spy and last year’s Jackpot!), my favourite movie of his is unquestionably A Simple Favour (it was No.6 in my Top Ten Films of 2018).  While the tone may not have been to everyone’s taste, I loved its balance of laughs and chills as it delivered a dark and twisty murder mystery with a strong vein of pitch-black comedy.  Re-watching that film with a chilled martini in hand (no ice, of course...) has been one of my guilty pleasures ever since it first came out.

The fact that Paul Feig was so hesitant about making a sequel to A Simple Favour was, in hindsight, a positive sign, because it’s become clear that he was very conscious of the need to avoid the pitfalls that often result in mediocre sequels to great films.  So Another Simple Favour is not a straightforward rehash of the story from the first film, and it actually feels like an organic further development of the returning characters, rather than a retread of their previous dynamics.

“…the real joy is the chemistry between Anna Kendrick & Blake Lively…”

This is perhaps most noticeable in the development of Anna Kendrick’s character, Stephanie Smothers.  In a lesser sequel, the filmmakers may have contrived a way to regress Stephanie back into the sort of character she was at the start of the first film – but instead, the Stephanie we see in Another Simple Favour is a continuation of the bold and confident character that she had developed into by the end of the first film.  This gives her a completely different dynamic to her relationship with Blake Lively’s Emily Nelson – Stephanie is no longer intimidated by Emily, nor is she in awe of her, although the inexplicable connection between the two characters still remains strong.  In the sequel, Stephanie doesn’t know if Emily truly has turned over a new leaf, or whether it’s all a cover for an elaborate revenge plot – but she’s prepared for either eventuality.

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are (once again) both amazing in these roles, with Blake Lively in particular having to walk the fine line between keeping Emily funny-but-threatening, while also keeping her true intentions hidden from the audience.  But as good as they are separately, the real joy is the chemistry between Kendrick and Lively when they’re on-screen together – that was the first film’s secret weapon, and their chemistry remains the sequel’s biggest strength.  Cleverly, however, Paul Feig doesn’t overplay his hand, and deploys the Stephanie/Emily scenes sparingly so that he always leaves you wanting more.

“…this sequel is very much aimed at fans of the first film…”

Returning from the first film are also Henry Golding as Sean (Emily’s ex-husband and Stephanie’s former lover), Bashir Salahuddin as Detective Summerville, and the trio of parents from Stephanie’s PTA, but their roles in the sequel are (understandably) reduced given that the majority of the film takes place Italy.  Joining the cast this time around are Italian actors Michele Morrone and Elena Sofia Ricci as Emily’s fiancé and his mother, with Elizabeth Perkins (replacing Jean Smart) and Allison Janney appearing as Emily’s mother and aunt.  The only new character which (for me) felt a bit flat was Alex Newell‘s literary agent, who didn’t make much of an impact (and who felt a little bit like a less-funny version of Da'Vine Joy Randolph’s character from The Lost City).

Obviously, with this being a murder mystery thriller I don’t want to say too much about the plot developments, other than to say that there were plenty of twists and turns which felt like they paid tribute to the first film without slavishly reproducing them.  I will add that this sequel is very much aimed at fans of the first film, and if you’ve not seen A Simple Favour, there may be some plot developments in Another Simple Favour that will seem to come out of nowhere.

“…has plenty of surprises up its (designer) sleeves…”

Ultimately, while the sequel lacks the bite and unpredictability of the first film, it still remains a pleasure to spend time with these characters, and even if the plot this time is a more conventional whodunit, it still has plenty of surprises up its (designer) sleeves.