Unraveling Every Ridiculous Twist in Another Simple Favor

Spoilers ahead for the ludicrous plot and ending of Another Simple Favor.

The delight in the growing ‘A Simple Favor’ series mainly comes from two factors: your willingness to accept unpredictable plot developments and your admiration for Blake Lively in stylish attire. Paul Feig’s 2018 film adaptation of the same-named novel leans heavily on Lively’s daring fashion choices and the captivating (at times lesbian-leaning) dynamic between her and co-star Anna Kendrick. The storyline, a beach read thriller where Lively’s character Emily pretends to be dead by murdering her secret twin sister, forcing Kendrick’s character Stephanie, a mommy vlogger, to investigate, can be seen as a lighter (and more gay!) version of ‘Gone Girl’. While some plot twists might be tough to digest, the strong cast and Jessica Sharzer’s witty script make it all go down smoothly.

In the eagerly anticipated follow-up to “Another Simple Favor”, many of the original team return – Laeta Kalogridis takes over screenwriting duties from Sharzer, and Elizabeth Perkins steps in for Jean Smart as Margaret, Emily’s mother. The story shifts from its previous setting to the picturesque Italian island of Capri. In the first film, Emily was incarcerated at the end, but her lawyers have won an appeal and she’s out on bail. She’s also engaged to the wealthy and handsome Dante Versano (played by Michele Morrone). As one might expect, Emily invites her best friend-turned-nemesis Stephanie to be her maid of honor at this destination wedding, despite their last encounter involving Emily attempting to harm Stephanie. The plot setup may seem implausible given their past, but the film deftly overcomes any reservations. “Just roll with it,” Emily advises.

In the picturesque town of Capri, things unfold much as anticipated. Portia, Emily’s mother-in-law (played by Elena Sofia Ricci), maliciously catches Emily off guard by inviting her estranged religious fanatic mother, with Aunt Linda (Allison Janney) in tow. Although Sean (Henry Golding), Emily’s (and Stephanie’s) ex, is only present due to a court order for their son Nicky (Ian Ho), he remains perpetually drunk and abusive. Additionally, there seems to be an unusual number of deaths – first Sean, whose demise is ruled an accident, and then Dante, who was murdered on his wedding night. The fact that Dante’s death is swiftly attributed to Stephanie isn’t exactly surprising (as the film starts with a scene indicating this), but it marks the beginning of Another Simple Favor losing its way.

Essentially, “A Simple Favor” skillfully navigates the fine line between making things seem plausible and keeping the audience entertained. As long as they’re having a good time, even the most absurd twists can be accepted. Unfortunately, “Another Simple Favor” falters in trying to maintain this balance. After Dante’s death, the story developments become increasingly implausible, stretching credibility beyond its limits. Let’s delve into how it all goes awry and grade each plot twist based on believability and enjoyment.

Emily’s triplet, Charity, is alive and has taken Emily’s place.

In the initial movie, it’s revealed that Emily (previously Hope) and her sister Faith had an identical sibling named Charity who passed away at birth. Director Feig couldn’t resist giving Lively another role, so in the movie “Another Simple Favor“, Charity is shown to be alive, taking Emily’s place. It’s Charity who assassinates Dante, but Aunt Linda is the one truly manipulating events. Stephanie quickly realizes that Charity might have killed Emily, but it’s challenging to convince others when you’re a murder suspect and talking about a long-lost triplet.

The believability of this scenario is somewhat questionable: it’s uncertain if Charity possesses the skill of speaking fluent Italian. However, it’s important to note that the presence of a third sister was previously introduced in the initial movie.

Entertainment Level: 7/10. Although it may seem repetitive to have another character like Blake Lively, Charity’s introduction still offers an enjoyable twist, especially once Stephanie becomes aware of her presence.

Linda kidnapped Charity and raised her as her con-artist accomplice.

To find out why Charity appears to be alive, Stephanie repeatedly questions Margaret who, in a confused state, eventually triggers a memory sequence revealing the truth. It was actually Linda who gave birth to the triplets and informed Margaret that Charity had died at birth. But Linda secretly took Charity and raised her as if she were her own child. Through additional information from Detective Summerville (Bashir Salahuddin), we discover that Linda is a skilled swindler with a habit of marrying wealthy men, only to later eliminate them. She has made Charity partake in her criminal activities because it’s highly unlikely anyone would suspect young children of masterminding crimes.

In the initial film, as Nicky notes, no one shares Blake Lively’s likeness, making it questionable that there was a long-hidden third sibling involved in the scheme. Additionally, given Charity’s mentally fragmented state (further discussed below), it seems challenging to envision her as an expert con artist.

Enjoyment level: 5/10. Although Allison Janney’s presence significantly enhances any film, the character of Linda lacks the intrigue found in other family members. Her background story feels more like an information overload rather than a well-developed narrative aspect.

Emily is still alive and rescues Stephanie from the mobsters about to kill her.

In an expected turn of events, Emily didn’t leave the scene without returning later to save Stephanie just in the right moment. Believing Stephanie to be responsible for Dante’s death, Portia abducts her and administers a truth serum that leaves Stephanie quite disoriented. However, Stephanie denies a crime she hadn’t committed, but is rendered incapable, leading Portia to order her execution before departing. With mere seconds left, the mobsters attempt to kill Stephanie, but Emily intervenes and knocks them out. Both Emily and an intoxicated Stephanie manage to flee with only minor injuries.

In terms of credibility, Emily’s response, “Prison, bitch,” when asked about outsmarting those men, seems plausible enough.

In terms of enjoyment, I’d rate it at 5/10. While it’s entertaining to see Emily dishing out mafia-fighting moves, the character of Stephanie in Another Simple Favor grows increasingly puzzling as the story progresses. These types of films thrive when both Emily and Stephanie are equally involved, but here, Stephanie seems more like a damsel in distress rather than an active participant.

Dante has been in a decades-long relationship with a man from a rival mob family.

Linda’s initial scheme didn’t include Dante’s demise; instead, she was extorting both Dante and Emily regarding their actual relationship status. Although there were obvious sparks between them, Dante and Emily had never been romantically entangled. Emily served as a decoy, introduced to mask Dante’s romantic involvement with Matteo Bartolo (Lorenzo de Moor), the offspring of a family locked in a longstanding rivalry with the Versanos.

In the world of “The Simple Favor,” it’s implied that everyone is slightly homosexual, thus this unexpected plot twist seems plausible, given the context, even though the details might appear somewhat blurry.

Enjoyment Level: 8 out of 10. This movie’s standout twist is particularly impressive since it catches even casual viewers off guard, while those with a keen eye for queer undertones might have spotted it earlier.

Charity is fully out of her mind and sexually assaults Emily.

Following Emily’s rescue of Stephanie, she discloses the events when Charity assumed her role. Instead of killing Emily as planned, Charity chose to drug her. The years spent imprisoned by Linda have given Charity an eerie, doll-like quality – she’s unsettlingly childish and increasingly evidently mentally unstable. While Emily is conscious but immobilized, Charity takes it upon herself to inflict a disturbing act of incestuous rape on her sister. In a somewhat insensitive remark given the situation, Stephanie refers to Emily as a “sister fucker,” a term she had previously used for Emily due to her relationship with their half-brother.

As a film enthusiast, I must admit that the portrayal of Charity’s mental state and eerie aura falls short in believability, scoring only a 3/10 in my books. It’s hard to swallow that she could deceive everyone except Stephanie when her character suddenly starts acting as erratically as depicted in the script.

1/10 for Enjoyability: Despite A Simple Favor‘s bold exploration of Stephanie’s past misdeeds, which were effectively transformed into a dark humor, the attempt to replicate this approach with a seriously disturbing act of sexual assault fell flat.

Charity turns on Linda with an assist from Nicky’s drone.

In the final scene of the movie Another Simple Favor, Charity and Linda keep a drugged Nicky at gunpoint on a precarious clifftop, setting up a showdown with Emily and Stephanie. While Charity is fully willing to eliminate Stephanie, she remains reluctant to lose the sister she’s just reconnected with. Linda is determined to take control of the situation when Nicky sets off a drone attack to incapacitate her. In response, Charity ultimately pushes Linda off the cliff to her demise.

In terms of believability, the score is around 6 out of 10. Instead of a drone appearing out of nowhere (drone ex machina), this film introduces the drone early on, making it more like Chekhov’s drone. However, the sudden awareness displayed by Nicky that allows him to fly the drone straight to its target is somewhat hard to swallow.

Enjoyment Level: 3/10. The overall atmosphere is quite whimsical, giving off a sense of being a simplistic solution for an unnecessarily complex narrative.

Charity pretends to be Emily and confesses to all the murders to take her place in prison.

Regarding simple escape routes, Charity’s deep affection for her sister drives her to impersonate Emily and admit to all the Capri murders: Sean, Dante, FBI agent Irene Walker (Taylor Ortega), Margaret, and Linda. (It turns out it was Linda who suffocated Margaret with a pillow, but that’s beside the point.) Charity steps into Emily’s shoes again behind bars, while the genuine Emily flees. She has no choice but to abandon Nicky, asking Stephanie to look after him instead.

Plausibility: 3 out of 10. It’s clear that Nicky is the one person whom Emily deeply loves (with perhaps a slight exception for Stephanie), so it seems implausible that she would willingly leave him after everything they’ve been through. Taking Charity’s place helps Emily dodge responsibility for her actions in the previous film, but now she stands accused of multiple murders, which doesn’t seem like a smart move in the long run.

Enjoyability: 2/10. Another Simple Favor’s denouement is as rushed as its climax.

Portia knows the truth about Emily and will now force her to work for the mob.

At the end of the movie, Portia confronts Emily, exposing that she’s aware of everything, even that someone else killed Dante, not Emily. However, this doesn’t clear Emily of suspicion, as now Portia is privy to Emily’s unique abilities and her advantageous position since Emily should be imprisoned. Moreover, Emily has joined the Versano crime family, implying certain obligations. Essentially, this means that Emily will have to comply with Portia’s demands, beginning with a seemingly harmless request — “a small favor.

The credibility is rated at 4 out of 10. It’s important to clarify what information Portia possesses and the source of her knowledge. Just because she holds a powerful position as a Mafia matriarch doesn’t automatically mean she has all-encompassing knowledge.

The enjoyability is rated at 5/10. While the idea of Emily working for the mob provides an intriguing angle, it’s merely hinted at as a potential plot point for a sequel that may never surface. Whether we’ll get to witness the unfolding of this twist in Yet Another Simple Favor remains uncertain, hinging on Feig and Sharzer finding a way to integrate Emily’s secret quadruplets into the storyline.

2025-05-02 17:55