All 8 Major Twists In Another Simple Favor, Explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Another Simple Favor.

Another Simple Favor contains a number of major twists that turn the entire story on its head multiple times. The new Prime Video movie, which was helmed by returning director Paul Feig, is a sequel to 2018’s A Simple Favor, which was adapted from the 2017 Darcey Bell novel of the same name. It followed young widow Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) becoming embroiled in a mystery when her cryptic and compelling new friend Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) goes missing. She becomes even more tangled in that web when she strikes up an affair with Emily’s husband, Sean Townsend (Henry Golding).

While the movie begins with a twist that sets up the plot – Emily has been freed from prison and unexpectedly reappears in Stephanie’s life – that is just a prelude to the major twists and turns to come. While the original A Simple Favor had ample plot twists, including the fact that Emily is actually Hope McLanden, who faked her death by killing her identical triplet Faith, and that the true father of Stephanie’s son Miles (Joshua Satine) may be her paternal half-brother Chris (Dustin Milligan). However, the sequel one-ups the 2018 thriller by bringing even more shocking information to light.

A closeup of Blake Lively as Emily from Another Simple Favor in front of a Capri backdrop

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1

Sean’s Death

Another Simple Favor Kills Off A Major Returning Character

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The first major twist in the movie is also the first of five deaths that are doled out to various Another Simple Favor characters. That would be the murder of Sean, who returns in the new movie, having been legally strong-armed into attending Emily’s wedding to her new fiancé, mafioso Dante Versano (Michele Morrone), in Capri. He makes no secret of his resentment of both Emily and Stephanie, who he believes are jointly responsible for sending his career into a tailspin.

Sean’s violent death – which involves him being injected with a drug that causes his brain to hemorrhage and sends him crashing through the glass wall of his shower – kicks off a string of murders among the other mayhem that surrounds the wedding. However, his murder is particularly shocking because he was a major character in the original movie, and it seemed that he might have been similarly important in the new movie.

2

Stephanie Finds Out Who’s Following Her

This Throws Even More Suspicion On Emily

Taylor Ortega as Irene sitting at a cafe table in Another Simple Favor

Another one of the major twists that comes toward the beginning of Another Simple Favor is the identity of the mysterious woman who has been following Stephanie throughout the first act. When Stephanie directly confronts her, she reveals that she is FBI Agent Irene Walker (Taylor Ortega), a friendly and bumbling presence who is not actually trailing Stephanie at all.

[Irene clues] Stephanie into the fact that Linda seems to be collaborating with Emily on some nefarious scheme.

As it turns out, the FBI is hot on the trail of Emily’s Aunt Linda (Allison Janney), who is under suspicion for a string of cons and murders. During their conversation, Irene accidentally reveals too much, cluing Stephanie into the fact that Linda seems to be collaborating with Emily on some nefarious scheme. This furthers Stephanie’s suspicions that there were wicked intentions behind her being invited to be Emily’s maid of honor.

3

Dante’s Death

He Dies Shortly After Burning His Prenup

Michele Morrone as Dante Versano soulfully staring in Another Simple Favor

The second major death from Another Simple Favor is the murder of Dante, which at first seems to be a mob hit. This would seem to be a natural conclusion, given the fact that the Versanos’ rival crime family, the Bartolos, have been invited to the wedding, and tensions are high. In fact, the afternoon before, Stephanie was threatened with a gun just for recording video near one of the Bartolos, whose presence at the wedding is being kept under a veil of strict secrecy.

The Bartolo family member who is most prominently featured in the movie is Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), who seems to be their leader.

Dante’s death, which involves him being shot and falling into a shed full of exploding fireworks, also comes shortly after he makes a big show of burning his prenuptial agreement, which casts even more suspicion on Emily. However, her Aunt Linda vouches for her, causing the blame to fall on Stephanie (whose suspicions of Linda and Emily are further stoked by this development).

4

Charity Is Still Alive

Her Death During Childbirth Was Faked

Blake Lively as Charity talks to Stephanie with tears in her eyes in Another Simple Favor

The complicated story of Emily’s family adds another wrinkle in Another Simple Favor when it is revealed that Hope and Faith’s third identical triplet Charity (who was believed to have been strangled with the umbilical cord during their birth) is actually alive. Not only did she not die during childbirth, she has taken Emily’s place and begun wreaking havoc in her life, including manipulating the evidence of the murders to point toward Stephanie.

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As it turns out, Linda, who was present at the triplets’ birth, secreted Charity away so she could raise the child to be of use in her many criminal schemes. When Stephanie learns this fact, she begins to put the pieces together about why it seemed like Linda was conspiring with Emily.

5

Linda Kills Margaret

The Sisters Had A Complicated Relationship

Elizabeth Perkins as Margaret cocking her head while in bed in Another Simple Favor

The next shocking death in the movie is the vicious murder of Emily’s mother, Margaret McLanden (who was recast in Another Simple Favor, with Elizabeth Perkins stepping in for Jean Smart). Although she is not entirely lucid, she manages to summon enough clarity to tell Stephanie about the circumstances of her daughters’ birth and follows that by telling Linda that she told Stephanie, which causes Linda to smother her with a pillow to prevent the information from spreading further.

Jean Smart was not available to shoot Another Simple Favor because of her commitment to the popular Max series Hacks.

Just like Sean’s death, Margaret’s murder at the hands of her sister is particularly shocking because it involves an important character from the original movie. While she was more of a supporting character than Sean, Margaret played a key role in unveiling the mystery in the 2018 thriller.

6

Dante Is In A Relationship With Matteo

The Lovers Come From Rival Crime Families

Michele Morrone as Dante Versano kissing Lorenzo de Moor as Matteo Bartolo in Another Simple Favor

After Emily escapes from Charity’s clutches and begins to explain her situation to Stephanie, who she has just helped escape from a mob hit, many of the threads of 2025’s Another Simple Favor begin to come together. This starts with her major reveal about the true nature of her relationship with Dante, about which Stephanie has been consistently suspicious, though she seemed to assume that Emily’s core motive was a desire to be connected with a rich and powerful man.

[The wedding would allow] Dante to continue to appear straight to the broader world…

However, Emily reveals that she has agreed to be a beard for Dante, who is in a star-crossed relationship with Matteo Bartolo. The wedding was all a charade to accomplish two goals: allowing Dante to continue to appear straight to the broader world and fostering peace between the two crime families, which would allow Matteo and Dante to spend even more time together, though that time is tragically cut short by his murder at the hands of Charity on the evening of the wedding.

7

Charity Is In Love With Emily

She Believes That They Are One

Blake Lively as Charity lies in bed with Blake Lively as Emily in Another Simple Favor

The fact that she is alive is far from the only twist involving Charity McLanden. As it turns out, she was raised in isolation while feeling an intense connection to her long-lost sisters, with whom she believes she shares a singular identity. This manifests in a psychosexual obsession with her only surviving triplet, and she both kisses and makes further sexual advances on Emily while holding her captive and taking her place to seek revenge on the men that she sees as preventing the duo from being together.

Blake Lively portrays both Charity and Emily in Another Simple Favor.

This reveal flips the script on Emily calling Stephanie a “brother f*er” throughout both movies. While Stephanie takes pleasure in calling Charity a “sister f*er” and poking fun at Emily, this reveal also uncovers a way that the duo can help save the day, by manipulating Charity into doing what Emily desires, which includes betraying Linda and going to prison in Emily’s place.

8

Emily Joins The Mafia

She Has Proven Herself

Blake Lively as Emily sitting by a fountain with Elena Sofia Ricci as Portia Versano in Another Simple Favor

After Emily has proven her loyalty to Dante and gotten out of another sticky situation, the closing scene of Another Simple Favor sets up a possible A Simple Favor 3 when Dante’s mother Portia Versano (Elena Sofia Ricci) to ask “a simple favor.” Considering the fact that Emily has inherited Dante’s estate and that the truce between the Versanos and the Bartolos is seemingly still in place, this puts both women in the prime position to lead a huge criminal empire, which could fuel even bigger twists and turns in a third movie, should it be greenlit.

Another Simple Favor movie poster

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Another Simple Favor

R

Comedy

Crime

Thriller

7.3/10

Release Date

May 1, 2025

Director

Paul Feig

Writers

Paul Feig, Laeta Kalogridis, Jessica Sharzer

Prequel(s)

A Simple Favor

Cast

See All

  • Headshot Of Anna Kendrick

    Anna Kendrick

    Stephanie Smothers

  • Headshot Of Blake Lively In The 'It Ends With Us' World Premiere

    Blake Lively

    Emily Nelson

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