Another Simple Favor: Movie Review

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Alison Janney, Michele Morrone
Director: Paul Feig

The 2018 film A Simple Favor was a deliciously tart affair that revelled in its toxic friendship between Stephanie Smoulders (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively).

Seven years later, the sequel aims for more twists and turns and sidelines the relationship between the pair that so fuelled the first.

This time around, Stephanie is harangued into being Emily's maid of honour after her book about the original caper, The Faceless Blonde, fails to capture an audience. When Emily strolls in nonchalantly to a book signing, the wheels are set in motion for a reunion - and a showdown after murder visits the wedding in Italy.

Packed with twists and red herrings, Another Simple Favor isn't quite the escapade it wants to be, preferring instead to be a murder mystery with some deliciously dark family secrets.

As a result, the swings become wilder and more out there, and while Kendrick works with the comic timing and does excellently with what's thrown at her, much of the film sees her separated from Lively early on and the caper struggles to recover.

Despite some outrageously good fashion and some extremely cruel exchanges early on, the film settles into a more traditional film that embraces its completely OTT edges. Escapist and absurd it may be, but Another Simple Favor is worth it for yet another superlative Kendrick performance.

Another Simple Favor is streaming on Prime Video now.