I’ll be honest: I don’t care if Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are “feuding” in real-life, a rumor that many a celebrity gossip rag has insisted on spreading over the last few years. And after audiences watch A Simple Favor 2—aka Another Simple Favor, which began streaming on Amazon Prime Video today—they won’t care, either. It doesn’t matter what Lively and Kendrick’s IRL relationship is, because in Another Simple Favor, they are totally and completely in love.
Warning: Another Simple Favor spoilers ahead.
Directed by Paul Feig, with a script written by Jessica Sharzer and Laeta Kalogridis, Another Simple Favor is a sequel to the 2018 dark comedy thriller, A Simple Favor. Seven years after mommy vlogger Stephanie Smother (Kendrick) uncovered the dark, murderous truth about fellow mom Emily Nelson (Lively), she’s sucked back into Emily’s chaotic orbit.
Emily’s got a fancy new Italian fiancé, Dante (Michele Morrone), whose lawyers get Emily out of jail for their extravagant wedding in Capri. Emily wants Stephanie as her maid of honor. Stephanie is naturally suspicious that Emily might try to murder her, again, but her editor convinces her that if she wants to sell her true-crime book—The Faceless Blond, about her discovery of Emily’s murderous past—then Stephanie needs to go to Capri. Plus, Emily threatens to sue her for using her likeness without permission if she doesn’t go. As Stephanie puts it: “Little emotional blackmail, potential lawsuit, just sort of dangling my livelihood over my head… just girlfriend stuff!”
Now that Stephanie knows Emily’s tricks, she’s not the awestruck, eager-to-please bestie she was in the first film. Emily’s not so keen on Stephanie, either, given that she slept with Emily’s ex-husband (Henry Golding) and uncovered the truth that ruined Emily’s life and took away her only child. On the plane to Italy, the women volley insults back and forth like a game of bitchy table tennis. Stephanie doesn’t believe a word Emily says… but she also can’t help being intrigued by her glamour, yet again.
But all it takes is a few perfectly-made martinis for those spiky walls to crumble. At Emily’s bachelorette party—just her, Stephanie, and a bottle of gin in the hotel pool—the women go full girl-talk mode, and genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s company. Emily reveals she’s watched all of Stephanie’s videos and sincerely, effusively praises Stephanie’s detective skills. You see how much this means to Stephanie in Kendrick’s pleased little smile.
Emily also teases Stephanie for her taste in men, but unlike the shots fired on the plane ride, it’s good-natured. Stephanie plays along, reminding Emily that she’s the one who married Sean (Golding), a man who is now an angry, bitter alcoholic.
“Ew, I just threw up in my mouth, don’t even talk about it, I hate it,” Emily replies with a groan. In this moment, they are true best friends, gossipping by the pool. Lively and Kendrick’s chemistry is easy, affectionate, and authentic. (Feud? What feud?) No matter their history, their mutual admiration for each other is undeniable.
And, dare I say, this relationship might go beyond mere admiration, mere friendship, into romance territory? In the first Simple Favor, the woman shared a kiss. Without spoiling too much, Another Simple Favor pays homage to that kiss—with a twist.
For those with lavender-tinted glasses, this sequel seems to lean even further into the possibility of a Stephanie and Emily romance. No, it’s not an explicitly romantic story between the two women in the movie. But there are quite a few love story tropes, including a daring, Indiana Jones-like rescue from Emily, when Stephanie finds herself in a sticky situation. Soon after, a drugged Stephanie playfully scolds Emily by quipping, “That’s not how you talk to somebody you’re in love with!” Later still, Emily sincerely declares Stephanie her “knight in f—ing shining armor.”
Like! Hello?! To quote one of Feig’s most quotable movies, Bridesmaids: “Lesbiaaaan! We’re all thinking it, aren’t we?”
In a recent interview with Decider, the director stopped short of describing the relationship as a “romance,” when asked about the possibility. But Feig acknowledged that Emily and Stephanie’s arc is a love story, of sorts.
“Whether they want to admit it or not, I believe each one of them is the only one the other really respects in the world,” Feig said. “They’re frustrated by each other, they don’t trust each other, but that’s why they have that respect—they’re two of the most complicated people they know, and two of the smartest people that they know. ‘Frenemies’ is such a hacky term, but it does kind of apply.”
Fair enough, Paul. We’ll just have to let the fanfiction writers do their thing.
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