Simon Cellan Jones’ “The Family Plan” (2023) is as cliché as ‘Secret Agents living a normal life only to be pushed back into the messes’ can be. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan in the lead, the narrative tropes used in the film are so tired that there is very little to no excitement to be had in this Apple TV+ original. However, some of the plot points and character arcs may be a little difficult for people to keep track of. So, in the following article, we will take a detailed look at the action comedy along with its ending, left to provide a warning about potential plot spoilers.
The Family Plan (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Dan Morgan is a devoted husband and father of three. He is a successful car salesman who is liked by people, but he doesn’t like his pictures being taken for some reason. His wife, Jessica, is tired of her wimpy husband wanting to be a homebody and never planning to leave Buffalo. We also learn later that she was an athlete before marrying Dan. It is also established that she practices kickboxing as a hobby and meets a woman named Gwen at her class who works for a travel agency and gives her card to Jessica.
Their daughter, Nina, is an angst-ridden teenager who has suddenly developed an inclination towards anti-establishment things—mostly because of her college boyfriend Trevor, whom Jessica doesn’t approve of. The daughter and mother don’t see eye to eye and have a hate-hate relationship as of now. Their son, Kyle, is also an antisocial person like Dan, but he hides his gamer identity, “Kyllboi,” from his parents. Their third child is the 10-month-old Max, who everyone adores.
Who was Dan in the past?
Unassumingly, on Dan and Jessica’s anniversary, a man teases Dan and posts a picture of the two of them kissing at the local fair on social media. This triggers something in Dan. However, he keeps it to himself until the next day when he is attacked in the local supermarket by an enemy from his past life. He calls up an old confidant, Augie, hinting to him about his identity being compromised.
Their talk together makes us understand that Dan was a covert assassin before he married Jessica and decided to have a different life. The attack alerts Dan, and being aware of his wife’s wish to do something impromptu, Dan decides to pack the essentials and go on a cross-country road trip to Las Vegas to protect his family. Getting out of Buffalo without letting his family know about his actual identity becomes a hassle. Fortunately, due to his exceptional skills, Dan is able to fool the group of people tracking him down.
After he is out of the city, he decides to throw away everyone’s mobile devices by saying that the trip needs to be technology-free. We all know that his reason for throwing them out is to avoid getting the attention of his enemies. The family decides to stay at a roadside motel. But a young girl who knows Kyle from his Twitch gaming stream recognizes him as Kyllboi and asks him for a picture. Realizing that the picture getting on social media would compromise them, Dan decides to keep moving, in spite of Jessica and the kids not wanting to.
The enemy traces him very soon, with a Danish biker gang trying to ambush the family minivan when everyone except Dan and Max is sleeping. However, Dan saves his family again without letting them know about his identity by playing Enya’s “Only Time” on their connected headphones. The next morning, Dan drives all the way to Iowa, where the family decides to go see Nina’s college campus she is going to attend next fall. The main reason is, of course, to meet her boyfriend, Trevor, who lives on campus.
The family has had differences of opinion about one another, but this trip slowly starts bringing them together. Dan is again attacked on campus by enemy forces. But he manages to beat them up again, getting away unharmed. He keeps prepping to tell his wife about his old life but is unable to find the right time. Meanwhile, Nina gets heartbroken when she realizes that her fake intellectual boyfriend has been cheating on her. Even though she is sad, Dan tells her a special move that helps her relieve some of her sadness by inflicting pain on Trevor.
The trip moves on, and Kyle and Dan also bond over a game of laser tag, where Dan realizes that his son is actually good at gaming in spite of him telling him to keep away from it. At the diner, we see Dan prepping to tell Jessica, but they need to keep moving. Thus, they reach the final leg of their trip, i.e., Vegas. Dan has booked a premium suite for the family, and everyone is overjoyed by this gesture. He plans to tell Jessica about his old identity over dinner and goes out to the bar to meet Augie. Augie hands him over the new identities for the entire family and warns him to unveil his truth to Jessica ASAP.
Dan and Jessica head out to dinner and ask the kids to remain in the suite til they return. However, the kids decide to venture out because there is a gaming convention happening nearby, and Kyle is interested in attending it. While Dan is trying to blurt out his truth to Jessica, we realize that his enemies, headed by McCaffrey, are rounding on him. Realizing the threat, Dan heads back to his suite, where he is attacked by heavily armed assassins. Dan is able to neutralize them but realizes that he is not Dan but Sean (his real name). Jessica decides to walk out with the kids.
However, she soon realizes that the kids have sneaked out, so she is forced to accompany Dan to the gaming convention. Meanwhile, Kyle has won the round at the convention, and the family gets out. Dan tries to finally tell them about his identity, but they are cut short again by mercenaries whom Dan refers to as “old co-workers.” They somehow escape to a nearby motel where he confesses about his past life of being an “assassin for hire.” He then tells them that they have to take up new identities and escape from there, which really pisses everyone off.
Who is Gwen?
Jessica calls up Gwen, who had previously offered her help for a possible escape route from all the mess. The next morning, she and the kids head out to meet Gwen, who has arranged a private jet for their escape. While Jessica finds it fishy, she is late to realize that Gwen, in fact, works for McCaffrey and is Dan’s ex. They take Jessica and the kids hostage and ask Dan to come and get them in an abandoned casino on the outskirts of Vegas.
The Family Plan (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What is McCaffrey’s relationship with Dan?
Dan reaches the casino and heads up to the suite in which the family is kept hostage. This is where we realize that McCaffrey is not just Dan’s handler but is his real dad. The family is taken aback for a moment, but we soon realize that the only reason Dan’s dad was chasing him was to get him back into the family business of killing people.
Is Dan able to save his family?
McCaffrey tells Dan his family would be set free if he joins back in the business, and he has no choice but to agree. However, the kids persuade their mother to fight for Dan, and in order to escape his old life, Dan has to fight his father. So, with the help of Kyle, who is now operating a drone, Dan fights off his enemies. Meanwhile, Jessica is attacked by Gwen, who also tries her best to protect her children. This goes on for a while, and eventually, the family is able to gang together and beat the bad guys. McCaffrey and his group are captured when Nina writes an article about them. The ending of the family plan shows Jessica, Dan, and the kids heading out for another road trip – this time to drop Nina off at college.
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