Another Simple Favor

Another Simple Favor
Release poster
Directed by	Paul Feig
Written by	Jessica Sharzer Laeta Kalogridis
Based on	Characters by Darcey Bell
Produced by	Paul Feig Laura Fischer
Starring	Anna Kendrick Blake Lively Andrew Rannells Bashir Salahuddin Elizabeth Perkins Michele Morrone Elena Sofia Ricci Henry Golding Allison Janney
Cinematography	John Schwartzman
Edited by	Brent White
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Production companies	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lionsgate Feigco Entertainment
Distributed by	Amazon MGM Studios
Release dates	March 7, 2025 (2025-03-07) (SXSW) May 1, 2025 (2025-05-01) (United States)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Another Simple Favor is a 2025 American black comedy mystery film directed by Paul Feig and written by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis. It is the sequel to A Simple Favor (2018). Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Kelly McCormack, Joshua Satine, and Ian Ho reprise their roles from the first film, with Michele Morrone, Elena Sofia Ricci, Elizabeth Perkins (replacing Jean Smart), Alex Newell, and Allison Janney joining the cast.

The film premiered at the South by Southwest Festival on March 7, 2025, and was released on Amazon Prime Video on May 1. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Five years after the events of the first film, Stephanie Smothers is a famous true crime vlogger and amateur detective and has written a book about her friendship with Emily Nelson and her subsequent imprisonment. At a signing event, she is confronted by Emily, who has been released on appeal. She is marrying her old friend Dante Versano, a wealthy Italian man from a family with connections to organized crime. She invites Stephanie to be her maid of honor, goading her into agreement with the promise of increased book sales and the threat of a potential lawsuit.

After arriving in Capri along with Dante and Stephanie's agent Vicky, the two reunite with Emily's ex-husband Sean and son Nicky. Also at the wedding are Emily's mother Margaret and her aunt Linda, as well as Dante's mother Portia, who has a contentious relationship with Emily, accusing her of marrying into the family for money. At a lunch before the wedding, a bitter and intoxicated Sean has a heated confrontation with Dante. Later, Sean is murdered in his hotel room by an unknown assailant.

Stephanie attends Emily's "bachelorette party", where she turns out to be the only guest, and the two reconnect. When Stephanie returns to the hotel, she discovers Sean's death, which the local police write off as an "accident". Suspecting Emily's involvement, Stephanie follows her the next day but is distracted by an American tourist who reveals herself as Irene Walker, an FBI agent investigating Linda, and shows Stephanie a photo of Linda talking to a mysterious woman that Stephanie identifies as Emily from her tattoo. They are interrupted by Dante, who Stephanie later sees in a heated discussion with Matteo Bartolo, a member of the Versanos' rival family.

Emily and Dante are married. At the reception, Dante makes a show of burning the prenuptial agreement between him and Emily, declaring it as a gesture of peace between the Versanos and the Bartolos. Later that evening, Stephanie follows Dante as he leaves the reception, only to witness him being shot to death. Portia accuses Emily of murdering him, while Linda casts suspicion on Matteo, who vehemently denies it. With Emily's presence accounted for, and Stephanie the only witness to the murder, she is placed under house arrest while the death is investigated.

Stephanie meets with Emily, only to realize from her odd behavior that she is in fact Charity, the third of the set of triplets that included Emily and her late sister Faith. Charity stabs herself, framing Stephanie for the attack. Stephanie is freed from her captivity by Isabella, a housekeeper paid by Irene. Isabella lets her into Margaret's room; she reveals that Charity's stillbirth was faked by Linda, a con artist who raised her as her own. Stephanie leaves the hotel and meets Irene, but before she can be taken to a safehouse, Irene is fatally stabbed by Charity in disguise. Meanwhile, Linda discovers from Margaret that Stephanie spoke with her, and smothers her with a pillow. Stephanie is taken to meet with Portia Versano.

Portia injects Stephanie with sodium thiopental, believing that she and Emily conspired to kill Dante. After failing to get any clear answers from her, Portia orders her killed, but she is rescued by Emily. She explains that Linda attempted to blackmail her and Dante, threatening to reveal that their wedding was a marriage of convenience to hide that Dante and Matteo were lovers. After she refused, Emily was confronted by Charity, who killed both Sean and Dante due to her romantic obsession with Emily. Charity drugged her and married Dante in her place, with Emily only being freed after Charity forgot to drug her that day.

Charity, posing as Emily, uses Stephanie's phone to livestream, sending a coded threat to Emily and Stephanie that she will kill Nicky if Stephanie does not turn herself in. Stephanie and Emily confront Charity and Linda, who is holding Nicky at gunpoint. Linda plans to kill Stephanie and pin the murders on her, with Charity assuming Emily's life, money, and position within the Versano family. Stephanie points out that Emily will also have to die, which Charity rejects. In the ensuing commotion, Nicky flies a toy drone into Linda's face, allowing Charity to take her gun and shoot her, sending her over a cliff to her death.

Emily convinces her sister to take her place in prison, while also taking responsibility for all of the murders committed. Stephanie returns home, writing a second book about the murders in Capri and honoring Emily's wish that she gives Nicky a normal life. Emily, who has remained in hiding in Italy, is confronted by Portia. She reveals that she knew the marriage between Emily and Dante was a sham, and that Emily did not commit the murders. In return for welcoming Emily into the Versano family, she requests "a simple favor", handing her an envelope with unknown contents.

Cast

• Anna Kendrick as Stephanie Smothers, an author and Miles's mother
• Blake Lively as
  • Emily Nelson / Hope McLanden, Nicky's mother
  • Charity McLanden, Emily's other triplet sister who she thought died at birth
• Henry Golding as Sean Townsend, Emily's ex-husband and Nicky's father
• Andrew Rannells as Darren, Stephanie's friend
• Bashir Salahuddin as Detective Ben Summerville
• Elizabeth Perkins as Margaret McLanden, Emily's mother. Perkins replaces Jean Smart, who portrayed the character in the first film.
• Michele Morrone as Dante Versano, Emily's fiancé
• Elena Sofia Ricci as Portia Versano, Dante's mother
• Allison Janney as Aunt Linda McLanden, Emily's aunt and Margaret's older sister
• Alex Newell as Vicky, Stephanie's book agent/assistant
• Taylor Ortega as Agent Irene Walker, an FBI agent who follows Stephanie
• Joshua Satine as Miles Smothers, Stephanie's son
• Ian Ho as Nicholas "Nicky" Townsend-Nelson, Emily and Sean's son
• Lorenzo de Moor as Matteo Bartolo
• Aparna Nancherla as Sona
• Kelly McCormack as Stacy
• Holmes as Camp Counselor Val
• Jake Tapper as himself

Director Paul Feig cameos as 'Emily'/Charity's lawyer at the end of the film

Production

Pre production

It was announced in May 2022 that Amazon MGM Studios and Lionsgate had greenlit a sequel to the 2018 film, with Paul Feig returning to direct, and Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively reprising their roles. The project would be again confirmed in March 2024, with Henry Golding and Andrew Rannells among the cast also reprising their roles from the first film, and Allison Janney among the new additions to the cast.

Filming

Principal photography began in late March 2024. It was previously set to begin in Fall 2023 in Capri and in the UNESCO World Heritage Site site of Villa Adriana, in Italy. Filming wrapped on May 26, 2024.

Release

Another Simple Favor premiered at the South by Southwest Festival on March 7, 2025, and was released on Amazon Prime Video on May 1.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 62% of 134 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Sailing through on the strength of its predecessor, Another Simple Favor is the perfect cocktail of mystery, intrigue, and sharp casting with a dash of well-timed comedy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film two and a half out of four stars and wrote, "Despite the change in subject from motherhood to the mafia, Another Simple Favor ends up largely the same as the first in terms of what works and what falters. Lively is once again fantastic, imbuing this character with a degree of captivating uncertainty that throws off the balance of the film when she's not on-screen, and the costumes are gorgeous, rising to the level of the stunning scenery." Matt Donato of TheWrap gave three out of five stars and wrote, "Another Simple Favor might not be Emily's perfection, chilled-glass martini, but that's fine. Like the everyday martinis Emily shakes in a jiffy, Feig's sexy and silly criminal caper goes down just fine."

In a more mixed review, Jacob Oller of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+ grade and wrote, "Though the simplest pleasures of Favor remain—catty chemistry between Kendrick and Lively, loopy twists, bravura statement outfits—the heat powering the concept has cooled to the extent that, despite the increased body count, the sequel feels as perfunctory as its title. It's just Another one."

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
SXSW	March 15, 2025	Headliner (Audience Award)	Paul Feig	Nominated

Future

In an interview with People, Feig expressed interest for a third film. Kalogridis said that she "would love to get to spend time with these characters and these actors again."

External links

• Another Simple Favor at IMDb