David Farnor | On 30, Dec 2025

Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Kit Harington
Certificate: 12

It’s been two years since Apple TV+ attempted to launch an action franchise about a used car salesman and his suburban wife juggling action set pieces while raising their family. Of course, it turned out that Dan (Wahlberg) was an assassin before he retired, much to Jessica’s (Monaghan) surprise – although her own history as an athlete at university made her an unexpectedly useful partner.

Fast forward three years and Dan runs a security firm and Jessica is a triathlete coach. But their happy life of honesty and transparency is upended when Dan is tricked into a bank robbery by Finn Clarke (Kit Harington), a long-lost figure from his past who would like nothing more than to inherit the criminal empire of Dan’s not-so-dearly departed dad. Except, of course, that’s not the only thing Dan and Jessica have to worry about: all this kicks off while on a trip to London to visit their daughter, Nina (Zoe Colletti), who is studying abroad – and, while she’s there, has picked up a new boyfriend, Omar (Sex Education’s Reda Elazouar). Along with them for the holidays is Nina’s brother, Kyle (Van Crosby), who’s 18 and on the verge of a career in either e-sports or hacking.

What ensues is part family adventure and part thriller, but The Family Plan 2 throws a steal extra ingredient into the mix: Christmas. Unfolding over the holidays, the result is a lively tour through festively decorated capital city landmarks, with Simon Cellan Jones crafting a neat blend of on-foot and car chases, plus a punch-up on a double-decker bus.

Kit Harington and Mark Wahlberg are game for each showdown, while leaning into the Christmas sentiment to bring some hostile sparks to their bromance. But The Family Plan 2’s success is that it weaves the whole family into the action: the ensemble have a lived-in chemistry, but are also given the opportunity for their personalities to shine through the action sequences. And so we see Michelle Monaghan’s athletic side put to good use, Van Crosby build Kyle’s self-confidence through his computer skills, Zoe Colletti find her voice as Nina protests to save the environment, and Reda Elazouar showcase Omar’s parkour skills across city rooftops.

Throw in a fun cameo from Sidse Babett Knudsen as Dan’s old flame, Svetlana, and you have an entertaining blockbuster that is at once conventional in its plotting but enjoyably distinct in its family-rooted dynamics. A third film to complete the franchise? We wouldn’t say no.

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