Darkest Secrets and Kinkiest Love: Breaking Down the Most OMG Moments of Another Simple Favor
“Another Simple Favor” brings us a tangled web of lies, forbidden love, and murderous surprises hanging from a stylish Italian hook. This 2018 mystery-thriller follow-up drags Stephanie and Emily through a crazy web of fake marriages, mafia drama, and harmful love triangles.
But beneath the luxurious and mysterious exterior there’s a gnarled twist: A story that attempts to balance queer love against family betrayal, against the flimsiest, least nuanced sexual assault subplot.
This post discusses Dante and Matteo’s secret relationship in “Elite,” Andrew Cooper’s cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs side story in “Your Friends and Neighbors,” and the cringey beats that make “Another Simple Favor” equal parts compelling and deeply flawed.
Dante And Matteo’s Romance Lingers In The Background
In Another Simple Favor, Dante Versano/Matteo Bartolo are both secretly in love. * And since they’re mafia DON’S, they keep their love affair a secret, to avoid public ridicule and Clan-wide pride.
Dante is going to marry Emily Nelson—but it won’t be for love, or at least not only for love, but because he needs to marry Emily to save his hide, and to try to become the man he should be, a man who fits the mafia mold.
Emily agrees because it would rescue her from prison and allow her to see her son. It’s a deal that will enable them both to have what they want—independence, control, and cover. But facts surface, layering depth and heartbreak throughout the story.
Emily And Dante’s Phony Marriage Ends In Tragedy
Emily marries Dante to enable a clandestine affair between Dante and Matteo. It’s a marriage of convenience, but it works for everyone—until Dante is murdered. Dante is 12. At a wedding in Italy, he is shot at by an unknown assailant, and Stephanie is arrested. The killing is a shock to all, most especially to Matteo, who is “broken” by it.
Emily finally learns that Charity, her identical twin, and Aunt Linda were the ones who plotted the murder. They intended to rob Dante of his fortune by impersonating Emily at the wedding. Dante’s killing shows the depths to which people will go to obtain power and material wealth, even if it destroys other people.
In Your Friends and Neighbors, A Story by Andrew Cooper, Williston Callow Jr. graduated from college at the age of 42 while his classmates were still in the beginning stages of home ownership.
Even as the events of Another Simple Favor play out, Apple TV+’s Your Friends and Neighbors unfurls a different kind of chaos. Andrew Cooper, formerly wealthy, turns to theft on account of having lost all he had. He determines, in Episode 5, to pinch a valuable painting.
The scheme goes off with the assistance of unlikely allies (Elena and Christian, a slippery forger) but not without complications. Christian gets aggressive, and a party crosses over into dangerous territory. Elena fends him off, and Coop intervenes. The stakes continue to rise as Coop pursues a life of crime, proving that desperate decisions often have darker consequences.
Coop Discovers A Body — And Another Problem
Coop’s plan goes a little off the rails when he goes to rob his ex’s house. He comes across an unlocked door and enters. Only instead of loot, what he discovers is a dead body — that of his ex’s onetime boyfriend, Paul.
Coop falls and hits his head as he loses his footing, and the next thing he knows, he’s come to on the ground next to the dead body. Panic sets in. He tidies up the scene, showers, and flees.
This moment returns to episode one of Your Friends and Neighbors, where Coop rolls over to the sight of a body. His path from hedge fund manager to desperate criminal is finally complete, but not nearly over.
The Troubling Actions Of Charity Have Gone Too Far
In Another Simple Favor, its spookiest curveball is the scene in which Charity casts herself on Emily. Charity, Emily’s long-lost twin, drugs and molests her. The scene is played for horror and dark humor, with Emily frozen in terror and Stephanie making a flip remark.
This moment doesn’t land with most audience members. Instead of treating the topic seriously, the film plays it for shock and laughs. This undermines the messaging and diminishes a serious topic to a joke. That moment could have complicated the story, but it is instead a liability of the film’s direction.
The Actual Problem With The Film’s Tone
Director Paul Feig attempts to blend murder mystery, comedy, and shock value. Yet the mixture isn’t always successful. The film alternates between tear-jerking moments and cringe-inducing jokes. The supporting personalities of Stephanie, Sea, and Aunt Linda are then employed for jokes, even in the most harrowing moments.
This undermines the narrative itself. The lush setting, murderous twists, and emotional heft of Dante and Matteo’s love story all but drown under forced humor. The film aims for dark, stylish, and funny, but seems muddled rather than mysterious.
FAQs
Is Dante truly in love with Matteo in Another Simple Favor?
Yes, Dante and Matteo are in a secret love affair. Their courtship is kept hidden by mafia custom.
Why does Dante marry Emily?
Dante enters into marriage with Emily as a screen to mask the fact that he is gay. In exchange, Emily will win her freedom.
Who kills Dante in the movie?
Charity and Linda murder Dante in an attempt to take his fortune.
But what is with the Charity sequence in the movie?
The joke that the Charity attacking Emily scene was is incredibly disrespectful.
What is the connection between Your Friends and Neighbors and Another Simple Favor?
The shows are not directly related, although both are concerned with secrets, lies, and twisted relationships in lavishly appointed surroundings.
Final Words
Another Simple Favor seeks to provide thrills, twists, and laughs, but the latter don’t always stick. Dante and Matteo’s story would add some emotional depth to the series, but if it doesn’t satisfy, it’s because of unfortunate choices and its up-and-down tonal shifts.
Coop is a cautionary tale in Your Friends and Neighbors about how quickly anyone can fall if pushed hard enough. Brimming with secrets and lies, these fables of the real world demonstrate how truth will out — even when no one wants to see it.
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