Another Simple Favor reused the original's biggest twist — and A Simple Favor 3 can’t pull it off again

When A Simple Favor came out in 2018, nobody expected its polished blend of dark humor, mystery, and one jaw-dropping twist - Emily wasn’t just concealing secrets; she had a secret twin.

Skip to 2025. Another Simple Favor reunites Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick for more glamorous trickery, but this time, the sequel applies a bit too much pressure on the first movie’s formula.

Same sister, different name

The bombshell for me came in the first film when Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick) discovered Hope, the character played by Blake Lively, had a twin sister named Faith. An equally dark and thrilling turn was that Emily murdered her sister and attempted to kill herself to escape the life she had built, faking her death instead. That became one of the defining elements of the film.

In the sequel, filmmakers double down on that same premise. This time, it’s another sister, Charity, out of nowhere.

Casey was believed to have died at birth by Emily, but Another Simple Favor rewrites the history, stating Aunt Linda took it upon herself to raise Charity as a world-renowned con artist. Everything starts to spiral again after Emily’s wedding in Capri, Italy , is crashed by Charity.

Right, it's a twist. Sure, it was unexpected. But it also feels very familiar.

Twists have limits — and we’ve reached them

Although handled with flair, it’s difficult to overlook the fact that Charity’s reveal feels like a repeat of the Faith twist. In both films, a secret sister appears with plans and a hidden agenda, which turns her world inside out.

The main problem? The franchise has officially run out of sisters. With Hope, Faith, and Charity introduced- and two still alive- there isn’t any space left for yet another sibling twist in the third installment. If A Simple Favor 3 is made, then it will need to find a new approach to keep things interesting.

What comes next?

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While there’s no official announcement, ‘Another Simple Favor’ leaves plenty of threads suggesting the possibility of a trilogy. Emily’s still on the loose while Charity is on her way to the slammer — but in this genre, we know jail doesn’t exactly keep a good villain grounded. The two siblings reuniting could spark an international caper or an entirely new mystery, minus the sibling surprise.

To put it simply, the sister card has been played — twice. Should the franchise decide to delve deeper into these plotlines, it will need to shift its focus elsewhere in order to retain its audience’s attention.

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