After eight months of success, Sonny (Dev Patel) and his partner, Muriel (Maggie Smith), are looking to expand the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to a second location. Sonny has a failed hotel in mind for purchase, but to get the funds they have to court an American retirement home conglomerate. Evergreen has promised to send out their anonymous hotel inspector. Sonny is convinced it is new arrival Guy Chambers (Richard Gere), who claims to be working on a novel but mostly seems interested in wooing Sonny's mother (Lillete Dubey). Love affairs are very much on the minds of the other residents as well, with Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Evelyn (Judi Dench) tiptoeing around their feelings, Madge's (Celia Imrie) inability to choose between her two suitors, and Norman (Ronald Pickup) accidentally putting out a hit on his girlfriend (Diana Hardcastle). Sonny's relationship with his fiancée, Sunaina (Tina Desai) is also being jeopardized by his insecurity when faced with a richer, more handsome "friend of the family" (Shazad Latif).
The heart and bubbliness are still there but this sequel feels underbaked. In particular, the Madge sub-plot should have been cut and more effort put into Muriel's maternal affection for Anokhi, which was pivotal in the first movie and mostly overlooked here. Still, it's not bad for a lazy Saturday where you just want something light with a guaranteed happy ending. It's currently streaming on Max (formerly a streaming service with HBO brand recognition.)
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