Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.

Paul Feig has made a name for himself as a director who doesn’t just flirt with genre, he seduces it, handcuffs it, and drags it into completely uncharted territory. With Another Simple Favor, Feig dials up the drama, the decadence, and the devilry in a sun-soaked sequel that’s anything but “simple.” It’s a smouldering powder keg of deceit, glamour, and vengeance, and we’re down for the ride.

We pick up with Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick), the former mommy-blogger turned true-crime podcaster who’s been riding the coattails of her explosive past with Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). But fame has fizzled, her book flopped, and Stephanie is left with nothing but her overworked imagination and a dwindling audience. That is until Emily, fresh out of prison, looking like the face of a million-dollar Chanel ad, and not even slightly repentant, invites her estranged bestie to be the maid of honor at her upcoming wedding. The location? The picturesque and suspiciously perfect Isle of Capri. The groom? The dangerously dashing Dante Versano (Michele Morrone), a man with smouldering eyes and secrets darker than Italian espresso. And a choatic playground of trouble awiats.

From the moment Stephanie touches down, the vibe is unmistakable: this isn’t just a wedding — this is a full-blown psychological warzone in heels. Feig wastes no time plunging audiences back into the deliciously twisted dynamic between his two leads. The suspense comes layered with biting satire, haute couture, and the kind of razor-sharp wit that slices through scenes like a switchblade through silk. There’s tension, there’s betrayal, and yes — there’s murder.

Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers has evolved, and not necessarily for the better. Burnt-out, socially isolated, and clinging to her former glory, she’s no longer the sunny suburban sleuth of 2018. Kendrick plays her with a brittle edge and nervous energy, peeling back layers of vulnerability as Stephanie once again gets pulled into Emily’s chaotic orbit. It’s a performance that’s equal parts hilarious and dramatic, and Feig knows exactly when to play her off-kilter humour for maximum tension.

Then there’s Blake Lively. As Emily Nelson, she once again walks the tightrope between femme fatale and full-blown sociopath. She’s back, and she’s badder than ever. Lively leans fully into the role, portraying Emily with icy elegance, crackling wit, and the kind of couture power that would make Hitchcock swoon. She’s a walking enigma, a puzzle in Prada, and you never quite know if she’s about to kiss you, or kill you. There’s a deliciously twisted pleasure in watching her toy with Kendrick’s Stephanie like a cat with a cornered mouse, and Lively brings back her Hitchcockian allure with a performance that’s equal parts Grace Kelly and femme fatale gone rogue. It’s a masterclass in charismatic villainy, and Lively clearly relishes every devilish moment.

Henry Golding reprises his role as Emily’s ex-husband Sean, and he’s undergone his own transformation. Disheveled and bitter, Sean is a shell of the man we met in the first film. Golding ditches the charm for a more abrasive, alcoholic edge that adds another volatile layer to the already combustible ensemble. He’s a wild card, constantly threatening to unravel the whole thing.Then there’s Michele Morrone as Dante Versano; the rich, ridiculously handsome Italian groom whose grand gestures hide some deeply sinister motives. Morrone is magnetic on screen, all brooding stares and seductive charm, but there’s a storm behind those eyes. Is he a devoted fiancé or a deadly player in Emily’s twisted game? Morrone walks the line beautifully, keeping both Stephanie and the audience guessing until the bitter end.

Feig doesn’t stop at his main players. The supporting cast is bursting with delicious performances, each one a spicy olive in this cinematic cocktail. Allison Janney blazes into the frame as Emily’s wickedly sharp Aunt Linda McLanden, who is armed with a biting tongue and secrets of her own. Elizabeth Perkins is terrifyingly funny as Margaret McLanden, Emily’s unstable, foul-mouthed mother who crashes the wedding with uninvited fury. And then there’s Elena Sofia Ricci as Portia Versano, Dante’s mother, whose hatred of Emily is so potent it might as well be weaponized. She’s a full-blown aristocratic assassin in pearls, and her scenes with Kendrick are electric.

Feig transforms the entire production into a jet-set thriller dripping in Mediterranean opulence. The Isle of Capri setting is almost too beautiful to be true, thanks to its lavish villas, crashing waves, and glowing sunsets, but it’s that very postcard-perfect look that gives the film its unnerving edge. Something this perfect has to be hiding something, and does it ever. Costume designer Renée Ehrlich Kalfus delivers some of the most jaw-dropping fashion seen on screen this year, with Lively once again donning looks that scream “venomous elegance.” Every outfit tells a story – every accessory could be a murder weapon. While Theodore Shapiro’s slick, noir-tinged score pulses beneath the surface, echoing the Hitchcockian vibes that permeate every scene.

Another Simple Favor is the kind of sequel that doesn’t just live up to its predecessor — it stabs it in the back, steals its dress, and runs off to the Amalfi Coast. It’s darker, wilder, sexier, and far more unhinged. Feig has created a twisted, stylish, and deliciously unpredictable puzzle-box of a movie that keeps you on your toes until the very last gasp. Whether you’re here for the fashion, the thrills, the twisted friendships, or just a really good murder-mystery cocktail, this film has everything you want and more.

Image: Prime Video

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Watch the all-new trailer below for Another Simple Favor:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.

The first trailer for Another Simple Favour was a fantastic surprise for audiences, and promises plenty of glamour, along with some ghoulish new murders, and now this new trailer builds on the mystery and tension of the first, along with offering audiences a deeper insight into the story and its new characters.

As a filmmaker Paul Feig is an artist whose always looking to push the boundaries with his narratives, and Another Simple Favor is definitely in that mould, not just with its story which finds convicted murderess Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) now released from prison, and engaged to marry the wealthy Italian hunk Dante (Michele Morrone) on the island of Capri, and she’s determined for Anna Kendrick’s bestie vlogger turned true-crime reporter Stephanie Smothers be her maid of honour. It’s only then that the bodies start to pile up, and from there it begins to get very interesting.

Feig is keeping his cards close to the chest when it comes to the overall narrative of Another Simple Favour, but there’s a ton of intrigue and mystery present in this new trailer, and we’re dying to know what happens next!

 

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Another Simple Favor is set to be a decadently devilish murder mystery that will have to be devoured when it arrives on Prime Video on May 1.

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Watch the first teaser trailer for Another Simple Favor below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.

Audiences were immediately caught off guard by the brand new trailer for Another Simple Favor, which finds the convicted murderer, the glamourous and psychopathic Emily Nelson, somehow released from prison and on her way to marrying a rich Italian businessman (Michele Morrone) in the picturesque setting of Capri. And to top it all off, her former friend, and now enemy, Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is the guest of honor in this twisted new murder-mystery tale that will have you gasping in shock.

Celebrated filmmaker Paul Feig is once again returning behind the camera, and Another Simple Favor appears to have plenty of surprises in store for fans of this clever and crip murder mystery, and we’re eager to see what happens next. The buzz has been building for this sequel ever since the release of the first film back in 2018. The film’s Italian setting and the stunning return of Blake Lively as Emily Nelson lead to all kinds of suspicion as to the film’s narrative, and the shocks and scares are sure to come in this twisty new sequel.

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Another Simple Favour is set to debut at this year’s SXSW Event on March 7 and will then debut on Prime Video on May 1.

Image: Prime Video

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In an adventure that will take them well beyond what they’ve known before, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands and devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder.

A member of hard-rock royalty, Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), aided by her father King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne), wants to destroy all other kinds of music to let rock reign supreme. With the fate of the world at stake, Poppy and Branch, along with their friends — Biggie (James Corden), Chenille (Caroline Hjelt), Satin (Aino Jawo), Cooper (Ron Funches) and Guy Diamond (Kunal Nayyar) — set out to visit all the other lands to unify the Trolls in harmony against Barb, who’s looking to upstage them all.

In 2016 audiences were introduced to the all-singing, all-dancing Pop Trolls, including Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) in Trolls, a smash success that lit up the screen with glitter and music and which was a guaranteed fun time for the whole family thanks to its engaging story and musical fun. Now audiences can dive back into the fun with Trolls World Tour as trouble brews in Troll World and Poppy, now Queen of the Pop Trolls and the ever-loyal Branch must embark in an epic journey across the entirety of the Trolls World to unite them and save the very existence of music. Directors Walt Dohrn and David P. Smith bring together some amazing visuals to the big screen here, and with its pop art colouring and cool animated dancing trolls are sure to delight everyone seated in the cinema!

Alongside the incredible animation and storytelling techniques of directors Walt Dohrn and David P. Smith, Trolls World Tour steps it up a notch and introduces audiences to an incredible range of new trolls, each of whom has their own devoted musical style. In addition to the Pop Trolls and Hard Rock Trolls, there are Country Trolls, Classical Trolls, Funk Trolls and EM Trolls, all of whom have their unique style, characteristics and of course musical tunes. For younger viewers, this is wonderful as it introduces a completely broad spectrum of music and sounds, and it gives Trolls World Tour plenty of flavour and spontaneity. This use of music as a worldbuilding device also keeps the film fresh and creates the perfect combination of imagery and sound. This combination of music also builds out the idea of song as narrative and Dohrn and Smith use this to their advantage in the film’s plotting and character development.

The cast of Trolls World Tour also delivers something incredibly special in this sequel. In 2016, Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake proved that they had a perfect melody and great chemistry together as Poppy and Branch, and this time they get up to even more mischief, along with strengthening their relationship in the process. But both Poppy and Branch have a thing or two to learn this time around. For Poppy, this means having to actually listen to someone else for a change and coming to the acceptance that she doesn’t have all the answer. Branch, on the other hand, has to learn to let his guard down and actually get out into the world rather than hiding away from it. Both Kendrick and Timberlake are wildly entertaining in Trolls World Tour and they sure do sparkle plenty of glitter up on screen together.

Giving support to Kendrick and Timberlake include a range of talented performers including Rachel Bloom as Queen Barb, leader of the Hard Rock Trolls and who has a megalomaniacal vision to replace all music with heavy metal and turn all the Trolls into Hard Rock zombies! Bloom has a ball as Queen Barb, and taps into her rock goddess rage as this fierce character, and did we mention that Ozzy Osbourne himself cameos as her semi-senile father King Thrash. There’s also Sam Rockwell’s Hickory, a cool and collected cowboy who comes to the aid of Poppy and Branch. Kelly Clarkson lets her voice be heard as Delta Dawn, the leader, mayor and sheriff of the Country Trolls, and she sings her heart out here with some mighty ballads. And let’s not forget Jamie Dornan’s Chaz, a smooth-jazz troll who is charted to hunt down Poppy and Branch by Queen Barb.

If Trolls World Tour does have a central theme then it is most definitely the idea of harmony, both in music and in life, and how important it is to have. Kendrick and Timberlake, alongside Dohrn and Smith and the entire cast of Trolls World Tour showcase that the world is a much more enjoyable and loving place when we celebrate the differences of those around us and unite together for a better world. This is presented out in the idea of music being generated from your very heart, and that when it does it leads to something truly spectacular. This theme of acceptance and love, as explained through music and dance is sure to leave an impact on anyone who watches Trolls World Tour, whether they be young or old.

When it comes to being back in cinemas we couldn’t think of a better film to watch than Trolls World Tour. With its wide collection of music, a brilliant fun-loving cast of characters, detailed animation and love-filled message, this one is sure to be a hit with every member of the family. So go on and head into your local cinema, because this one’s a real treat.

Image: Universal Pictures

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The new trailer is here and will definitely have you on edge. Check it out below:

When mommy blogger Stephanie Ward (Kendrick) learns that her best friend, the beautiful, yet mysterious Emily Nelson (Lively) has disappeared under strange circumstances she is drawn into a dark and foreboding conspiracy of double crossings and betrayals.

The new trailer is a twisting psychological thriller which seriously raises your pulse. While Kendrick’s Stephanie is portrayed as your average young women, Lively’s Emily is anything but normal. She’s a sublimely beautiful and exotically dangerous woman who is hiding more secrets than she cares to share and she will definitely take Kendrick for a ride.

The new trailer builds on the tension of the first teaser, and the glamour of the first posters, and its clear that Feig is is in brand new waters here. While he’s the reining king of raunchy comedy here with A Simple Favor he’s ready to take audiences on a scary new ride. I have no-doubt that I’ll be gripping my seat with tension as this plays out in front of me.

A Simple Favor is a film to definitely get excited about and get ready for the unexpected when it arrives in cinemas on September 13.

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