Another Simple Favor’s Ending Takes the Twists to an Absurd New Level

Spoilers below.

If you thought the plot to A Simple Favor was deliciously twisted, wait until you see its sequel. Another Simple Favor manages to up the stakes even further—with multiple ridiculous plot twists, plenty of daring hijinks, and a surplus of fabulous attire. Not only is the stunning island of Capri, Italy, serving as an ultra-chic backdrop, but more secrets come to light about Emily Nelson’s (Blake Lively) troubled family. Anna Kendrick was not exaggerating when she teased to ELLE last year that Another Simple Favor is “really dark and fucked-up in all the ways that the first one was.”

Paul Feig’s follow-up to the 2018 thriller embraces more mystery and dark humor. “I’ll say that I know that the standard selling point for any sequel is like, it’s even crazier than the first one, but this is,” Kendrick added. “I’m not worried about saying that, because you’ll see it and you’ll be like, Jesus Christ.” That sentiment is accurate, based on my personal experience in the theater.

There are many pieces to the Another Simple Favor puzzle. If you need a quick refresher on the first film: Emily (whose real name is Hope) killed her twin sister Faith so that she could fake her death and collect a $4 million life insurance policy. Emily was sent to prison at the end of A Simple Favor after an elaborate back-and-forth in which she shot her husband Sean (Henry Golding), who had been sleeping with Stephanie after Emily’s “death.” Emily planned on making it look like Stephanie had pulled a murder-suicide, but Stephanie was live-streaming the whole thing to her mommy vlog followers. Instead, Emily ends up in prison.

Another Simple Favor is a fun ride that takes Emily and Stephanie’s sparring up a notch. Melodramatic storylines involving Emily’s estranged Aunt Linda (the always incredible Allison Janney) bring the story to absurd beats that, at times, feel like putting a hat on a hat (think: the giant one worn by Lively in the film). If someone mentions a dead triplet in the first movie, it probably means they’ll show up alive in the sequel. Regardless of how silly the situation becomes in the final act, Lively and Kendrick’s chemistry throughout this depiction of a toxic friendship makes the film compelling. The destination wedding premise, extravagant costumes (designed by Renée Ehrlich Kalfus), extra-dry martinis, and over-the-top twists all add to the beach-read vibe. Join us as we break down the key points of Another Simple Favor’s wacky ending.

Aunt Linda is a conwoman blackmailing Emily’s fiancé, Dante.

In the five years since Emily went to prison, Stephanie has become a true crime writer. However, her recent book, The Faceless Blonde—which chronicles her violent experience with Emily—is not setting the literary world on fire, and Emily is released from prison at the perfect time to boost its sales. The details regarding Emily’s release on appeal are vague (including how she can travel outside of the U.S.), but Another Simple Favor isn’t particularly concerned with legal logistics. Emily’s fiancé, Dante Versano (Michele Morrone), pulled whatever strings needed to make it happen.

Dante is a man connected to organized crime and involved in an on-again, off-again turf war with the Bartolo family. Emily first met him when she was working in a bar in her early twenties, and the attractive pair hit it off. What we don’t know until later is that Emily was Dante’s beard; as it turns out, he was actually in a romantic relationship with Versano rival Matteo Bartolo (Lorenzo de Moor). (How very Romeo & Juliet of them.) Only Emily knew their closeted secret, and she agreed to marry Dante 15 years after they first met to maintain their cover.

However, there’s no love between Emily and her future mother-in-law, Portia (Elena Sofia Ricci), who invited Emily’s estranged mother, Margaret McLanden (Elizabeth Perkins, taking over from Jean Smart), and her Aunt Linda to the wedding festivities as a cruel gift.

The McLanden family has plenty of skeletons in their sketchy closets, and the disoriented Margaret still thinks her daughters have the devil in them. Linda helped deliver Emily and her twin, but Emily claims she hasn’t seen her aunt in decades. In the first movie, Emily revealed she was a triplet, but that the third baby died in the womb. Margaret never even got to see her deceased daughter, Charity, as Linda apparently had the stillborn cremated immediately. That isn’t suspicious at all!

Surprise, surprise: Another Simple Favor reveals that Linda, a con artist under investigation by the FBI, has been keeping the third sister, Charity (also played by Lively), hidden from her family for years. Charity has been an integral part of Linda’s schemes, which include blackmailing Dante. Charity has spent little time socializing with anyone other than her creepy dolls, making her unhinged and unpredictable.

Emily’s not-dead triplet, Charity, kills Sean and Dante.

Before Emily and Dante’s wedding day, a drunk and belligerent Sean makes it clear he’d rather be anywhere else than Capri. He hasn’t let Emily see their son during her time in prison and plans on applying for full custody. Cut to: Sean getting murdered in the shower via a chemical that makes him bleed from the eyes, nose, and mouth. (It is deeply unpleasant to watch.) The pool of potential murder suspects is small, as we, the audience, watch Sean recognize his killer in the bathroom before he dies.

Next on the murderer’s hit list is Dante, who is shot and then engulfed in flames as fireworks explode above the wedding party. Stephanie witnesses Dante plead with his killer—someone with whom he seems familiar—but she doesn’t see who pulled the trigger. Stephanie is somehow blamed for his death and is placed under house arrest in her hotel.

We soon learn it was—gasp!—Charity who killed both men. Her motive? She wants to be “one” with Emily and claims she has a psychic triplet connection with her. As she soon reveals, she drugged Emily on the morning of her wedding day and took her place skipping down the aisle.

Emily saves Stephanie.

With the help of a hotel housekeeper, Stephanie escapes from her room and goes to see Margaret to ask questions about Linda. In between Margaret’s comments about hell and demons, Stephanie figures out that Linda stole Margaret’s third baby and pretended Charity was dead. Later, Linda smothers Margaret with a pillow when she realizes her sister knows too much. Apparently, murder runs in the McLanden family.

Stephanie gets word to meet the not-so-covert FBI Agent Walker (Taylor Ortega), but when she arrives, Charity stabs Agent Walker in the back. Before Stephanie can do anything, Portia’s mob guys inject Stephanie and knock her out. Considering Stephanie was holding the murder weapon used on Walker, Portia’s intrusion briefly saves the true-crime influencer from another murder accusation.

Not that she’s better off for it. Stephanie wakes up tied to a chair in an unknown location. Portia wants to get a confession about her son Dante’s murder, giving Stephanie a fast-acting truth serum. Stephanie begins to share unrelated and incredibly minor misdemeanors she’s committed, and even though she’s not guilty of murder, Portia wants her men to kill Stephanie anyway. Luckily, Emily is waiting in the wings to save the day, as Charity was too busy killing Agent Walker to drug her again.

Eventually realizing that Emily has escaped, Charity and Linda figure out how to lure her back into their net. On Instagram Live, Charity (posing as Emily) shows that she has Emily’s son Nicky (Ian Ho) up at the clifftop known as Tiberius’ Leap. Emily wasn’t in the mood to kill another sister, but now she sure is!

Charity kills Linda and takes the fall for Emily.

With a gun to Nicky’s head, Linda lays out her plan: Charity will take Dante’s place in the Versano crime family, a lucrative deal for both Charity and Linda. However, for this to work, Emily has to die. But Charity wavers at the prospect of killing the sister with whom she wants to be “one.” “Hope doesn’t die,” says Charity, using her sister’s real name.

In the ensuing confrontation, Nicky escapes and uses his drone to hit Linda in the face. Charity then grabs Linda’s gun and pushes her aunt off the high cliff to her death. Desperate to protect Stephanie from the now gun-toting Charity, Emily opts for what is (apparently) the only distraction available to her: She kisses her sister on the lips. In a callback to Stephanie’s incest with her half-brother in the first film, Stephanie brands Emily a ”sister fucker.” (Some of Another Simple Favor’s salacious comedy lands successfully, but these jokes try too hard to be edgy, ultimately leaving a sour taste). Charity relents her grip on the gun, and the day is saved.

Finally, we watch Stephanie appear on CNN to chat with Jake Tapper about her new book, Dying for Love: A Killer in Capri. We learn that Emily is back in police custody, but it’s not actually Emily: It’s Charity doing her time in prison, while the real Emily remains in Italy. Emily calls Stephanie to ask for “a simple favor” to raise Nicky, and Stephanie agrees.

Moments before the credits roll, the story takes us back to Rome, where Emily meets with her mother-in-law. As she is now part of the Versano family, Portia expects a lot from her. She’s in need of…a favor. The details of Portia’s discreet request are kept hush-hush, leaving the ending open for more European adventures in the future. By its end, Another Simple Favor has unraveled, as it tries to outdo the final-act surprises from the first movie. But its cliffhanger close promises there are still a few satisfying thrills left in this cocktail shaker.