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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It Ends With Us, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.

Author Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, It Ends With Us, brought her a legion of fans and introduced audiences to the powerful character of Lily Bloom, a young woman determined to live her life on her terms. Now It Ends With Us has made its way to the big screen, and this is a film that’s big on romance, drama, and feeling. It’s a narrative that takes audiences to a new place emotionally. In watching this picture, you get all the standard romance tropes up front: a young woman looking for love and connection, a dashing and gorgeous suitor, and a whirlwind romance that follows. But It Ends With Us does something unexpected in the middle of its second act that completely rocks the boat of this narrative, and we see a sudden inversion of the romance genre, and the result is a much deeper, more resonating picture because of it.

It Ends With Us is a narrative that deals with the complete spectrum of love and connection, both the light and the dark. While it starts off with a bright, glamorous and sexy energy, it then turns into a haunting and scary portrait of sudden domestic abuse and one woman’s journey to leave that part of her life behind. Director Justin Baldoni has already proved himself to be a filmmaker who can produce incredibly moving pictures, and he really levels up the emotions of It Ends With Us in a very big way. Via Hoover’s story and Baldoni’s direction, there’s no hiding from the trauma and heartbreak of this story. He delivers a picture that captures the cost of an abusive relationship, and any psychologist will submit to the validity of the subject matter. It Ends With Us is a complicated and moving story, but it is a powerful one, and Baldoni handles it with sincerity and care.

Stepping into the role of Lily Bloom, both utterly and completely, is the glamorous Blake Lively, and her personal persona falls away as she completely inhabits the skin and emotions of this beautiful yet complicated character. Through extensive hair and make-up and costuming, Lively transforms herself into Lily, this bo-ho, quintessential girl-next-door whose love for the natural world and flowers leads her to move to Boston with the dream of opening her own flower store. It’s there that she falls for dashing, hunky and smooth-talking neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni). A fast and glamorous relationship soon grows between them, but then, in a sudden flash, Ryle’s dark side appears, and Lily is left in a bleak emotional place that brings up her past and makes her question her very future. While Lively may be one of the most glamorous and beautiful women in the world, as an actress, she has time and time again chosen projects that test her as an actress and cause her to dig deep in her performance. And this is exactly what we see here in Lively’s performance as Lily Bloom.

Praise needs to be levelled on Lively for her handling of the very heavy and sensitive emotions needed to portray the character, and in dealing with the film’s subject matter of an abusive relationship, Lively holds none of the pain or trauma back. What we see in Lively’s performance is a woman who undergoes a dramatic journey to question the path she’s on and to find the courage to find a new way forward. For Lively, the role of Lily Bloom is an intensely emotionally strong performance, and you feel every instance of joy and celebration, as well as heartbreak and sorrow. Lively gives us an incredibly full character as Lily. Lively’s role is also charged by the performance of newcomer Isabela Ferrer as the young Lily, and both actresses work in tandem to bring the character of Lily Bloom to life and to see her blossom.

Facing Lively as the two men in Lily’s life are Justin Baldoni as Lily’s dashing yet dangerous lover, Ryle Kincaid and Brandon Sklenar as Lily’s teenage love interest and quintessential good guy Atlas Corrigan. For Baldani, who also directs the film, the role of Ryle sees him as the quintessential ‘romance novel’ lead, a rich, successful, unbelievably shredded and good-looking neurosurgeon who’s almost too good to be true, and in this case, he is. It’s a brave choice for Baldoni to take on such a repugnant character, as we see how dangerous and abusive Ryle truly is as the picture moves forward, and he needs to be commended as an actor for such a choice. Then there’s rising heartthrob Brandon Sklenar as Atlas, Lily’s teenage crush, and whom her love ultimately saved him when he needed it, and he’s the man she needs in her life when things get too dark, and he proves to be the quintessential good man.

It Ends With Us is a film that delves into intense emotions and serious subject matter. Driven by its characters and story, it captivates the audience and evokes strong emotions. It’s rare to find bold romantic films or serious dramas in cinemas nowadays, but when they’re done right, they can have a powerful impact on audiences, as is the case with It Ends With Us. The film also appeals to the senses with its vibrant visuals, use of light and colour, and a moving score by Rob Simonsen and Duncan Blickenstaff that completely immerses the viewer.

The feelings are immediate and full in It Ends With Us, and this picture encourages its audience to understand that we are neither bound by our past nor present but that our future is our own to choose and that new life can bloom wherever we look. It’s a heartfelt and stirring journey that examines how love can heal all in the end, and audiences who witness this picture will need to wipe away the tears.

Image: Sony 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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Starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, this clever and twisting thriller follows Stephanie (Kendrick), a mommy vlogger who yearns to learn of the mysterious disappearance of her best friend Emily (Lively). But as she digs deeper into Emily’s life it soon become clear that her best friend may not have been who Stephanie first thought she was…and that all along she may have been hiding a far darker persona after all.

A Simple Favour definitely has my interest and I’m digging the Hitchcockian style that Feig is exploring with his new feature. His casting is spot on with Kendrick and Lively and he looks to be spinning a very twisted tale.

The film also looks to be exploring some very intense themes that relate to our society’s obsession with status and consumerism, along with the consequences of a lifestyle like this and this of course leads to plenty of questions as to what exactly happened to Emily after all.

If you’re looking for an elegant mystery then you’ll find it in A Simple Favour, and I can guarantee you that I’ll be lining up for this thrilling little gem when it is released in cinemas on September 20.

Image: Roadshow Films

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