Murder Mystery Sequel Goes Full Feig
DIRECTOR: PAUL FEIG/2025
Can something be deeply stupid if it knows it? The short story “Flowers for Algernon” suggests self-awareness of one’s intelligence requires some level of it to begin with, but it also operates on the belief those with intelligence will use it for self-advancement.
Though decked out in lush floral arrangements Algernon would envy, Another Simple Favor undercuts that assumption, operating with sentience but with little aspiration. Since the events the original 2018 film, mommy-blogger-turned-true-crime-enthusiast Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) has turned the stranger-than-fiction (for her) plot of A Simple Favor into a book. But who should crash one of her readings but the book’s subject herself, Emily (Blake Lively). With the help of fancy lawyers paid for by her Italian fiancé Dante (Michele Morrone), the onetime murderer has flown the coop just in time for a lavish wedding in Capri. And who should serve as Maid of Honor except Stephanie herself? Desperate for book sales—and afraid for Emily’s retribution if she declines—Stephanie agrees to giving a toast at the very publicized event, even though it means confronting their shared ex (Henry Golding), spending the week with the groom’s mafia family, and sitting through an awkward reunion with Emily’s Aunt Linda (Allison Janney). Oh, and one more thing: Stephanie is pretty sure Emily is still looking for another chance to kill her.
Though A Simple Favor did poke fun at the true crime phenomenon that peaked close to its release, it featured surprisingly little comedy for a Paul Feig/Anna Kendrick joint. You could argue it spoofed Gone Girl, but its starting point in reality and desaturated palette felt more like an homage. (Even Lively’s social media promotion of the project inspired sleuthing when she only followed Instagram users with her character’s name.) Its sequel, on the other hand, has more in common with murder mystery comedies like, well, Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Brighter, sillier, and more colorful—though with production values closer to Glass Onion than Netflix’s other whodunnit film series—it’s gone full Feig. Both Murder Mystery films drew gentle chuckles out of me, but Another Simple Favor pulls out loud laughs. (Like Prime’s January rom-com You’re Cordially Invited, this movie feels like one meant to experience with a large audience.) Sure, it’s the same basic characters and plot as the last movie, but now it’s got zany side characters that would fit in the world of The Heat!
Though that change of tone is refreshing—and more adept than the previously moody approach—the real change is its constant need for more. That is consistent with its one thoughtful idea, its examination of why we want what we can’t have, best demonstrated by Emily and Stephanie’s twisted, co-dependent friendship/rivalry. Lively has upped her fashion game yet again, pivoting Emily’s icons from classic film noir to cinematic winks at her criminal behavior: a bouclé jumpsuit with chains and Jailhouse Rock stripes, a suspendered gangster suit and fedora befitting The Sting, a white suit and broad-brim hat in the style of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” Another Simple Favor is very much in on its own joke—even acknowledging Elizabeth Perkins replacing Jean Smart as Emily’s mother by explaining it away as cosmetic surgery—but it still can’t resist trying to outdo itself. Its plot twists are sensational, the characters’ behavior is appalling, and its dialogue is crass, all of which is intentional. When sexual assault is depicted for laughs, the tone is so tongue-in-cheek it’s hard to be offended morally as much as intellectually.
A bonkers third act can be fun—I quite enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny—and there’s room for goofy whodunnits, especially when Knives Out has the smart whodunnit so well-covered. But Feig comedies like Ghostbusters and Spy never felt this cheap even at their most slapstick and improbable. Its biggest swing at a twist can be seen a mile away if you remember much of the first film, and most attempts to shock exist for their own sake. The first two acts show signs of the hallmarks of Feig and his funny ladies are known for, but the big reveal is that this film is even more vapid than it advertises. Too lazy to be clever and too dumb to be scandalous, its self-awareness can’t save from its own lack of taste.