Review: 'Another Simple Favour' serves high-gloss drama with Capri, couture and crime

Oh, how the mighty (and fashionable) fall, Another Simple Favor, the sequel to the 2018 cult hit A Simple Favor, crashes into the scene with more sparkle, more secrets, more sequins and a bit less sense. Directed again by Paul Feig, this follow-up trades suburban Connecticut for the luxurious cliffs and turquoise waters of Capri, Italy. Yes, this time the chaos is set against one of the most stunning backdrops imaginable, and you better believe the camera knows it. Italy, in fact, becomes its own character, breathing drama into every scene, like it's sipping an Aperol Spritz while watching these Americans unravel.

The film brings back Anna Kendrick’s ever-chirpy Stephanie Smothers, now rebranded as a full-blown true crime influencer with a bestselling book titled The Faceless Blonde. She’s traded vlogging for live events and high heels, but she’s still the same awkward, slightly neurotic Stephanie underneath. Then, like a stylish storm in a hurricane of Gucci, back walks Blake Lively’s Emily Nelson. Fresh out of prison thanks to "high-powered lawyers" (we’ll leave that one alone), Emily shows up uninvited at a book signing and casually drops the bomb: she's getting married on the island of Capri to an Italian mafioso heir. And Stephanie is going to be her maid of honor. Whether she likes it or not. And just like that, we’re off to Italy, darling.

From the first wide shot of the Amalfi coast, it's clear that Feig’s vision is to level up. Everything is bigger. The estate is grander. The wedding is more extravagant. The clothes? Oh, the clothes. Costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus clearly had a blast because there are outfits here that deserve their own end credits. There’s a wedding dress so stunning it should be hung in the Louvre. And Blake Lively struts through the film like she was born in a Versace campaign, sharp, cold, and impossible to look away from. But just like a gown that’s too tight, this movie starts to buckle under its own ambition.

The plot? Twisty, yes. Fun? Not always. The movie begins with promise, a destination wedding, an uneasy friendship rekindled, and the looming threat of mafia mayhem. But soon, it all becomes too much. A murder at the wedding, mysterious injections, mistaken identities, house arrests, and a mafia feud that feels like it wandered in from another movie entirely. It’s as if the writers (Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis) were afraid of boring us for even one second, so they just kept adding more and more and more.

The result? A dizzying second half that veers from satire to soap opera to crime thriller without ever settling into a comfortable rhythm. It’s like a three-course meal of entirely different cuisines. Tasty at first, but confusing by dessert.

The biggest strength remains the electric, toxic chemistry between Kendrick and Lively. Their scenes together sizzle with biting wit and a mutual mistrust so thick it could be bottled and sold. “You were never nice,” Emily tells Stephanie. “You were just afraid to be mean.” That one line carries more bite than most entire screenplays. Lively, especially, is phenomenal, playing Emily like a cobra in heels: beautiful, dangerous, and utterly magnetic. Kendrick plays it sharper this time too, shedding the naive “mommy blogger” persona and embracing a darker, savvier energy.

But for every high, there’s a drag. Michele Morrone, the sultry groom Dante, mostly broods and smolders with little to actually do. Elena Sofia Ricci plays his domineering mob mother with a theatrical flair that quickly loses charm. The newly introduced relatives, Elizabeth Perkins as Emily’s mother and Allison Janney as her wine-soaked aunt offer some zany humor and family drama, but their presence mostly feels like side dishes on a table already overflowing.

And then there’s Henry Golding’s Sean. Reduced to a bitter, drunken mess, his best lines land in the first twenty minutes before he fades into irrelevance. His and Kendrick’s son, now a brooding tween with dyed hair, adds some teenage angst to the mix but ultimately does little besides serve as plot glue.

At its best, Another Simple Favor feels like a ridiculous vacation with people you should never trust, full of passive-aggressive toasts, glamor, and thinly veiled threats. The humor is sharp, and the film knows how absurd it is. For a while, that self-awareness is its charm. But by the time bodies hit the floor and characters are tied up in truth-serum nonsense, it starts to feel like a parody of itself.

There are definite echoes of The White Lotus: Season 2 here; rich people behaving badly under the Mediterranean sun, surrounded by secrets, death, and too many Aperol Spritzes. It’s constantly in motion, afraid you’ll stop laughing or gasping if it pauses for breath.

In the end, this sequel is a cocktail that looks divine but leaves a weird aftertaste. It’s bubbly and dramatic, with gorgeous visuals and a few killer performances. But the plot keeps slipping on its own designer shoes, and the magic of the original, rooted in suburban secrecy and unexpected darkness gets lost in the sun-drenched excess of Capri.

The Verdict

Should you watch it? Sure. For the costumes. For Blake Lively. For the sheer chaos. But don’t expect it to make much sense. Another Simple Favor is high-gloss nonsense-fun while it lasts, forgettable the moment it fades to black.

And honestly? That might be exactly what Emily Nelson wanted.

*** (3/5) stars