19 hours Ago By Sreejith Mullappilly
Many filmmakers dread the idea of a sequel to their successful films mainly because they wonder whether they can capture the same spark a second time. This also applies to Paul Feig, the director of Another Simple Favor, the sequel to the 2018 film starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. The makers of A Simple Favor originally did not plan a sequel.
However, the growing popularity of the film after its subsequent release on streaming platforms made them reconsider their plan. For Feig, making a second part is a tough proposition “because the joy of a film is discovering the characters for the first time. I have avoided sequels forever.
” However, he made an exception for Another Simple Favor because, much like it was for the audience, the characters stayed with him for a long time. The original film revolves around the unexpected and complex friendship between Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick), a widowed mommy blogger, and the glamorous and mysterious Emily Nelson (Lively), which takes a dark turn following Emily's disappearance. “Anna and Blake’s characters really stuck in my head, and I felt like there is something more to be done with them,” says Feig.
At the end of the first film, Emily gets exposed for her deceitful actions and faces legal consequences, while Stephanie successfully navigates the chaos and emerges as a stronger person. The filmmaker adds, “I know that we sent Blake’s character Emily off to jail and Anna’s character Stephanie kind of got her life together through the adventure, but it just felt like they had more in them, and it needed to be an international adventure.” Echoing Feig’s sentiment, co-screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis says, “It felt like the two of them ended at such a different place than where they started—I wanted to see these two women take the next step and join together against a common adversary.
” According to the official logline, in Another Simple Favor, releasing on Prime Video on May 1, Stephanie asks Emily to be her bridesmaid as she ties the knot with an affluent Italian businessman in Capri. Speaking further about the Italian setting of the story, filmmaker Feig says, “It was fun to take Stephanie out of suburbia and drop her into the over-the-top European opulence of Capri. I loved seeing her out of her comfort zone.
” The film’s plot takes a dark turn with elements such as murder and betrayal. This reintroduces the kind of chaotic and unpredictable situations that Stephanie tends to navigate with a degree of initial bewilderment, according to Kendrick. “It is very similar to the first film, where it is like, ‘What am I doing? I do not know! We will find out,’” says Kendrick with a smile.
She goes on to add, “I try to play it more like, ‘Well, if I do go to Capri, then I guess I do not feel like there is a massive threat.’ And then when a certain someone dies, I finally realise that things are very scary and bad.” The actor conveys that the film’s constant genre shifting and unpredictable nature will likely leave the audience feeling unsure of what direction the story will take next.
“The tone is so wild that you feel very untethered,” she reveals. Kendrick still found it fun to shoot the film, including even its darkest scenes. “There is so much play in it.
It is built into the language and the fabric of the film. There are no scenes that are not fun,” she explains. On the other hand, Feig ensures that, while the film will offer something different that the audience will not expect, it is still not beyond the universe and the characters that made the first film quite popular.
“It is a real delicate balance, and I feel we came up with exactly what we needed to have, which is a twisty, turny, sexy, unexpected adventure thriller.”.
