Another Simple Favor Review: Beyond Silliness

Another Simple Favor plays to Paul Feig’s strength, but it stretches suspension of disbelief and descends into campiness a few too many times.

Another Simple Favor reveals Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour) turned the events of the first film into a novel. She is invited to be maid of honor at the wedding of Emily Nelson (Blake Lively, It Ends with Us), who has been released after the events of the first movie. As she is set to marry the mob boss Dante Versano (Michael Morrone). What follows is an elaborate murder mystery plot in which Stephanie herself is framed. 

What works about this movie is mostly the same as the first. The witty banter and character relations all tie together nicely. Emily and Stephanie are still on good terms, and seeing how they progress from the first movie is a welcome breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, many of the story choices bog the film down. The opening spoils the premise, which means most of the rest of the story makes no sense. It should not take a genius to figure out where it will go or how Stephanie really is innocent. Since the scene where she is framed shows how the act was committed and how she had nothing to do with it, there is little suspense or tension in the actual mystery. 

A good mystery involves dropping hints and presenting the story in a way where the audience can solve it on their own. The original was able to pull it off by being silly, but still dropping hints so that when the twist came, it was surprising but made sense on rewatch. Another Simple Favor stretches suspension of disbelief a bit too far with its twists. It has to introduce a new character just to pull off its surprise, which is never a good sign. Once all that starts, the plot unravels and becomes another mass shootout with all sides going crazy with each other. It can be hard to keep track of what is happening simply because so many of the twists are either contrived or predictable. 

Another Simple Favor does a decent job with the returning elements from the first film but falters trying to do something new. Stephanie Smothers is a convincing action heroine and it is fun to see her try and succeed, but this is not a fitting way to continue the story. Paul Feig’s direction and the general idea are fine, but once you piece together the actual mystery, it does not make much sense. 

Another Simple Favor had its Premiere at SXSW on March 7-8, 2025 and will be available to stream globally on Prime Video on May 1, 2025. Read our SXSW reviews and our list of films to watch at SXSW 2025!