Why the Star of 2025's Best Christmas Movie Loves That It's About More Than Mark Wahlberg Flexing

Michelle Monaghan is back doing what she does best: running, scheming, and quietly stealing scenes. After three tours through Mission: Impossible, she has slid into another action-comedy lane with The Family Plan, which turned into a surprise holiday favorite — and now has a sequel out. She talked about that sequel, and Mark Wahlberg’s role in it, and there are a couple of fun nuggets in there.

Not just the Mark show: Monaghan on how the sequel spreads the love

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Monaghan made it clear The Family Plan isn’t built around one guy flexing on screen time. Yes, Wahlberg headlines as dad-on-the-run Dan, but the Morgan family actually functions like, well, a family. Everyone gets a job to do, and the movie lets them do it. There’s even a foot chase where Monaghan’s character, Jessica, flat-out outruns Wahlberg. If you like seeing an action lead get dusted by his wife, you will not be disappointed.

Monaghan broke down the dynamic like this: Kyle (Van Crosby) is the resident tech brain; his sister Nina (Zoe Colletti) is the idealist trying to make the world better; and Dan, per Monaghan, is the household’s "workhorse in the family." The whole setup leans into a simple idea she likes — everyone plays to their strengths and relies on each other — just dialed up for an action-comedy.

So what is The Family Plan 2 and when did it land?

The Family Plan 2 was filmed in London and released on November 21, 2025. The first movie’s big word-of-mouth push and cozy holiday timing made it a go-to December watch, and Apple TV had the follow-up out within two years. The sequel sticks with the Morgans, keeping that 'team effort' energy front and center.

Why this one matters to Monaghan

Monaghan said this franchise is rare for her because she can actually show it to her kids. She likes that the story is built for families without sanding off all the action edges. Her words:

"I’ve done a wide range of work in my career, but I can count on one hand the number of projects that my kids can actually watch. So The Family Plan allowed me to sit them down and say, 'Hey, Mom made this. We can all watch it together. You don’t have to wait three or four more years before I say it’s okay.'"

Quick personal context: Monaghan is married to Peter White, and they have two kids — daughter Willow Katherine (born 2008) and son Tommy Francis (born 2013).

Wahlberg’s streaming run is kind of wild

On top of theaters, Wahlberg has been quietly stacking hits on the platforms. This year he turned up in Play Dirty alongside LaKeith Stanfield and Rosa Salazar on Prime Video — that one hit No. 1 across all streamers, per Forbes. The first Family Plan became Apple TV’s most-watched movie. And in 2024 he also co-led Netflix’s The Union. If you’re keeping score, he’s appeared in seven streaming movies since 2020 across four different services.

• The Family Plan (Apple TV): IMDb 6.3/10; Rotten Tomatoes 29% Tomatometer | 60% Audience
• The Family Plan 2 (Apple TV): IMDb 5.6/10; Rotten Tomatoes 35% Tomatometer | 36% Audience
• Play Dirty (Prime Video): IMDb 5.9/10; Rotten Tomatoes 43% Tomatometer | 42% Audience
• The Union (Netflix, 2024): IMDb 5.5/10; Rotten Tomatoes 35% Tomatometer | 24% Audience

The Family Plan 2 is now streaming on Apple TV.