Blake Lively has suffered a further setback, as her new movie Another Simple Favor got scathing reviews from two top Hollywood trades.

The film is a follow-up to her hit 2018 crime comedy A Simple Favor, starring her alongside Anna Kendrick with direction by Paul Feig of Bridesmaids fame.

In the run-up to its release, Another Simple Favor has seen its promotions overshadowed by the increasingly rancorous legal battle between Blake and Justin Baldoni, her co-star and director on last year’s drama It Ends With Us.

Adding insult to injury, Blake has been trailed by a persistent stream of conjecture that she and Anna do not get along behind the scenes. 

Now, after the movie’s premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival last week, the critics have delivered their verdicts – and two important ones have not been kind.

Another Simple Favor was blasted as ‘silly and sometimes trying’ by The Hollywood Reporter, as Variety accused it of ‘samey-sameness’ and noted it ‘drags on.’

Blake Lively has suffered a further setback, as her new movie Another Simple Favor got scathing reviews from two top Hollywood trades; pictured in the teaser 

The Hollywood Reporter argued that the movie ‘doesn’t prove to be the exception’ to the rule that sequels ‘rarely live up to the standards of their predecessors.’

Lovia Gyarkie, the trade publication’s critic, called the movie ‘often very ridiculous and sometimes trying’ while praising the ‘chemistry’ between Blake and Anna.

Read More Blake Lively suffers new PR nightmare as teaser for Another Simple Favor is released amid Justin Baldoni drama

She noted that the movie is ‘watchable’ because of the friendship between Blake and Anna’s characters, but added: ‘It’s a shame, then, that these characters and their friendship aren’t more deeply developed.’

The Hollywood Reporter’s critic accused Another Simple Favor of ‘overemphasizing antics to justify its existence’ and complained that the script ‘relies on so much expository dialogue, giving some scenes a mechanical quality.’

Veteran critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in Variety that the movie ‘both diverts and drags on,’ noting that it was ‘more labored than clever.’

Comparing Another Simple Favor to ‘a flakier Knives Out sequel crossed with a cartoon gloss on White Lotus,’ he wrote that as a follow-up to the original movie, the sequel ‘offers more of the same, and not enough of it, and too much of it.’

He observed that the film ‘feels, in a way that the first movie didn’t, like an elaborate kitsch-crime schematic that the performers are going through the motions acting out.’

Meanwhile, Blake has failed to shut down the drama surrounding the film as she shared a very telling clue that all is not well between her Anna.

The film is a follow-up to her hit 2018 crime comedy A Simple Favor, starring her alongside Anna Kendrick with direction by Paul Feig of Bridesmaids fame; Blake pictured in the sequel 

Adding insult to injury, Blake has been trailed by a persistent stream of conjecture that she and Anna do not get along behind the scenes; Anna pictured in the teaser for the sequel 

Rumors have been swirling that there is tension between Blake, 37, and Anna, 39, and their appearance at SXSW Film Festival only fueled the fire. 

Anna gave a cryptic response when she was asked what it was like to be working with Blake, amid the raging legal battle with Justin Baldoni. 

Blake seemingly attempted to shut down any rumors of tension in her latest Instagram post, but there was a very telling clue that all is not well.

On Tuesday night, Blake shared a gallery of pH๏τographs from the movie’s promotional tour in Austin and gushed over working with ‘each of you’ in a caption.

She featured pictures of her co-star Anna and the film’s director Paul Feig at Friday’s SXSW Film Festival, but they weren’t in any of the behind-the-scenes snaps.

Blake has failed to shut down the Another Simple Favor drama as she shared a very telling clue that all is not well between her and Anna 

Rumors have been swirling that there is tension between leading stars Blake, 37, and Anna, 39, and their appearance at SXSW Film Festival (pictured) only fueled the fire

Blake attempted to shut down any rumors in her latest post, but all the group sH๏τs featured members of her own team. She is pictured (R) with ᴀssistant Sophia Travaglia, manager Justin Grey Stone, talent agent Mike DeVeau, make-up artist Kristofer Buckle and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ publicist Jami Kandel, among others

Other than her co-star Michele Morrone, 34, being included in pictures of them playing table tennis, all of the group sH๏τs simply featured members of Blake’s own team.

Out of the 20 sH๏τs, Anna was only included in one pH๏τograph of her and Blake on stage at SXSW Film Festival on Friday, rather than any of the snaps of Blake’s social nights out with her team.

Meanwhile, director Paul, 62, was pictured signing autographs at the festival, but didn’t appear to feature in any other pictures of Blake’s days out around Austin. 

Blake shared an array of pictures of herself enjoying meals out during the promotional tour, but she was simply joined by members of her own publicity and filming team – rather than her co-stars.

The sH๏τs saw Blake posing with her manager Justin Grey Stone, ᴀssistant Sophia Travaglia, talent agent Mike DeVeau, make-up artist Kristofer Buckle and her husband Ryan Reynolds’ publicist Jami Kandel, among others.

Despite the telling clue, Blake tried to shut down rumors of tension in a caption as she gushed: ‘Final Austin roundup for @asimplefavor. I know how fortunate I am to work with each of you.

‘Thank you to my friends and loved ones for making this weekend so special. Ok. Back to sweatpants now. That was fun.’

MailOnline has contacted Blake’s representatives for comment. 

Other than her co-star Michele Morrone, 34, being included in pictures of them playing table tennis, all of her behind-the-scenes snaps were with her own team 

One pH๏τograph showed her out for dinner with pal Christian Zavala and her ᴀssistant Sophia as she thanked her friends for making the weekend ‘so special’ 

She was all smiles in one pH๏τograph as she wrapped her arms around Sophia as she featured in a third slide 

Read More Blake Lively gives bizarre response to the chaotic SXSW premiere of Another Simple Favor

Blake has claimed Baldoni Sєxually harᴀssed her during the making of their film It Ends With Us, in which he plays her abusive partner. She has also alleged that he launched a smear campaign against her in an attempt to debase her claims.

Another Simple Favor’s director Paul tried to shut down any claims of tension between Blake and Anna amid the ongoing rumors.

When a YouTube star claimed on X that Blake was ‘terrified to walk the red carpet’ with Anne at the Another Simple Favor premiere on Friday, Paul hit back with: ‘Um … you’re wrong.’

In an interview with People, he also gushed that making the film ‘was too much fun’ as he brushed off the allegations of behind-the-scenes tension.

‘I mean, I had such a great experience on the first one. It always kind of stuck with me, like, “God, I love working with the two of them”,’ he said. 

At the premiere, both actresses walked the red carpet separately, as is the usual practice but later joined each other for group pH๏τographs.

When asked about working with Anna again for the sequel to their hit 2018 thriller A Simple Favor, Blake described her co-star as ‘the best’.

However, when Entertainment Tonight asked Anna a similar question,  she refused to get involved in any drama as she gave a cryptic response.

She simply replied: ‘Oh, you know…’ before walking away to take a selfie with a fan, sending fans into overdrive on social media.

Another Simple Favor’s director Paul tried to shut down any claims of tension between Blake and Anna amid the ongoing rumors as he insisted filming was ‘too much fun’  

Another Simple Favor sees Blake and Emily reunite on screen as Emily and Stephanie respectively, who were the leading stars in the original thriller 

In a red carpet interview with Variety, Anna also feigned ignorance about the controversy as she asked: ‘Why? What happened?’

She then added: ‘I did ayahuasca and the last year of my life has been gone.’

Turning to the backdrop, she said: ‘But I hear the movie is amazing,’ as she refused to be drawn any further.

Another Simple Favor sees Blake and Emily reunite on screen as Emily and Stephanie respectively, who were the leading stars in the original thriller.

This time, they are traveling to Italy for Emily’s wedding to a wealthy Italian businessman. 

Somehow, amidst all the wedding preparations, murder and betrayal are also on the ‘to do’ list.