Like her character Emily, Blake Lively launches her new film with an air of suspicion around her. Once one of the most popular stars in Hollywood, recent headlines have been less forgiving following the fallout from her previous project, 2024’s It Ends With Us. The former Gossip Girl star is embroiled in a legal battle with co-star Justin Baldoni, with both sides releasing recordings of the other that they claim are damaging. This sequel to 2018 hit A Simple Favour will be a test for Lively, as audiences judge whether controversy off-screen has changed how we see the star.
Set five years after the original film, Anna Kendrick returns as Stephanie Smothers, a true crime blogger promoting a book about the events that saw her former friend, Emily Nelson (Lively), put in prison. Crashing a book signing unannounced, Emily reveals she is out on appeal and has found love, inviting Stephanie to her wedding in Capri as her maid of honour. Suspicious of her motives, Stephanie accepts, but once she arrives at the nuptials further secrets begin to emerge.
At one point, Lively’s Emily pleads to her co-star: “Is it maybe just a little bit possible that I’ve changed?” Of course, she hasn’t, and that’s to the film’s benefit. The duel between awkward everywoman Stephanie and impossibly glamorous mean girl Emily is the lifeblood of the first film, and remains what makes this sequel watchable. Seeing them toe the thin line between resentment and sisterhood is a joy, even if Kendrick carries a lot of the conversations.
To her credit, Lively never stretches beyond her limits. She’s there to wear jaw-dropping statement outfits, look stunning, and deliver withering putdowns. Recent rumours that paint her as less-than-likeable, or that she and Kendrick didn’t get along on set, only serve the performance. The whole frothy mystery is based around rumour and bitchiness, so anyone choosing to believe what they read in gossip columns will only find themselves further immersed.
Unfortunately, those here for a decent story will be starved to death. It turns out the real killer is sequelitis, with the filmmakers covering up the lack of plot by drowning the audience in what worked before. There’s more bitching, more bodies, and more beauty, but the intelligence of its predecessor is gone. The tell-tale sign that the film is adrift is that the first hour seems to be mainly about recounting the events of the first movie, while the second half throws up too many unearned twists.
Director Paul Feig put a scathing microscope on social media culture in the first movie, examining how online suburban bliss can often hide something that’s broken. There’s none of that commentary here, the film instead turning its gaze toward the obsession surrounding true crime fandom, as well as the conventions of whodunit stories. Even then, it doesn’t extend beyond a few obvious jokes.
The new cast members also add little to proceedings. Michele Morrone smoulders as Emily’s mafioso fiancé, but does little else; while veteran character actor Allison Janney unexpectedly flounders playing her mysterious Aunt Linda. Everyone looks to be having a fabulous time shooting in an exotic location, but a vicarious vacation can’t sustain two hours.
Another Simple favour is best summed up by a scene where Kendrick says “This is really f***ing weird”, before Lively casually responds: “I know, just go with it”. If ludicrous escapism is your thing, this will make for a diverting experience. It’s just a shame that the story is not as sharp as the characters’ barbs.
• Another Simple Favour is available on Prime Video now
