Aahana Swrup
Directed by Clay Tarver, Hulu’s ‘Vacation Friends 2,’ the direct sequel to ‘Vacation Friends,’ is a comedy film specializing in chaotic twists and turns. The film follows Marcus and Emily on a vacation to a luxurious hotel in the Caribbean with their close but oddball couple friends, Ron and Kyla. However, unbeknownst to the latter, Marcus scored the hotel because his company was invited to discuss a business deal with the hotel owner, Mrs. Kim of the Kim Wae Group. Given Ron and Kyla’s eccentric personalities, Marcus plans his business meeting after the vacation, which is why things take a turn for the worse when Mrs. Kim’s arrival gets moved up in the schedule.
Even worse, Kyla’s wildcard father, Reese Hackford, decides to surprise the couple, leading to a wild ride. If you’re curious to see where this brand-new adventure takes the couples and how they save themselves from hot waters this time, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Vacation Friends 2.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Vacation Friends 2 Plot Synopsis
When Marcus gets the opportunity to fly out to the Caribbean in an all-expenses-paid vacation to a luxury hotel for a business meeting, he invites his friends Ron and Kyla along for the ride as a honeymoon gift. The newlyweds’ baby, alongside Maurillio, the group’s former hotel manager and now babysitter, also joins them for the trip. Trying to let some of Ron’s influence rub off on him, Marcus plans to “float” through the week until Ron and Kyla return home and Marcus’ meeting with the esteemed Korean Hotel group, Kim Wae, takes center stage.
Still, Marcus’ need to be in control significantly undermines his floating abilities, as depicted by the app on his phone that comically charts his wife, Emily’s menstrual cycle to help the couple, who are trying for a baby. The vacation sees a frenzied start after the couples get drunk and go out for a wild night of partying. However, the next morning, an unpleasant surprise awaits Marcus when he realizes the Kim Wae Group has moved up the meeting due to scheduling issues. Furthermore, the VP lead on the Chicago project, Mr. Yeon, seems to have another candidate in mind and dislikes Marcus off the bat.
Things get even crazier after Kyla’s ex-convict father, Reese, surprises her on her honeymoon. Ron, who’s usually well-liked by everyone, even Yeon, fails to appeal to his father-in-law, putting in motion his own quest to impress the other man. Meanwhile, Marcus, whose floating idea has sunken, suspects Reese of being up to no good after noticing his shady activities over the following days.
Eventually, after a fun night at the casino, with Ron participating in a company drinking game on Marcus’ behalf, Marcus manages to earn Yeon’s approval. Nevertheless, he also learns that Yeon doesn’t have a say in the company run solely on Kim’s opinions. Afterward, Marcus and the group agree to go snorkeling with Reese after the former ruins the father’s surprise gift to Kyla, confusing a package of her mother’s ashes for cocaine.
Even though Marcus and Emily try to give Reese the benefit of the doubt, he soon proves himself to be anything less than harmless. Instead of a regular snorkeling trip, Reese sneaks the group to Cuba on a beat-up airplane, using them as a cover to search for treasure from a sunken aircraft in the ocean. As a result, their snorkeling trip is cut short after the Cuban Police chase the group down, forcing them to flee in the barely working aircraft.
Vacation Friends Ending: What Is Reese’s Plan?
Since his initial introduction, Marcus and Emily, alongside the audience, suspect Reese of being up to something. Inversely, Kyla, who’s happy to see her father and is inherently too eclectic to notice Reese’s red flags, simply enjoys his company. Likewise, Ron mostly cares about ensuring Kyla’s father likes him after realizing that despite his innate likability, Reese seems to have a problem with him.
Marcus catches Reese in suspicious meetings with different people consistently on the trip. Still, it isn’t until the snorkeling trip that ends with the group getting shot at with their plane crashing in a forest that Reese’s plan actually comes out in the open. During his time in prison, Reese hears about a sunken airplane with millions of dollars in cash. Lucky for him, the sunken airplane is near the Caribbean, where his gullible daughter is traveling for her honeymoon.
Therefore, Reese crashes her daughter’s vacation, pretending his presence is only a result of his fatherly love. Instead, covertly, Reese collaborates with his accomplice Jerome and hatches a plan to travel to the ship’s secret coordinates and acquire the lost treasure. Reese uses his daughter and her friends to project the picture of a harmless family snorkeling trip while Jerome secretly dives underwater to steal bags full of cash from the ship. The money belongs to a local drug dealer, Warren, who controls the island. As such, when his men notice Reese’s plane crashing near their base, Warren and his men chase after Reese and the others.
What Happens to Reese?
Soon after their crash landing, Warren’s men catch Reese, Marcus, Emily, Ron, and Kyla. Since Reese’s stolen money blows up in the plane crash, he lies to Warren and tells him the money is still inside the ocean. Consequently, the group finds themselves locked inside a storage container after Reese shares the sunken ship’s coordinates with Warren.
During their time inside the container, Ron finally recognizes Reese as a bad guy for putting everyone’s lives in danger. Still, Kyla insists they have to get along since they are family. Things worsen once the drug lord finds the plane, and he drops the container into the ocean to let Reese drown alongside his daughter’s family and friends.
Nonetheless, Ron manages to find a way to escape, and the others rush back to solid land, where they hotwire a car to return to the hotel. In the end, Warren, figuring out Reese’s lie, catches up to the group outside the establishment. While the others are held at gunpoint, Emily has the arguably genius idea to fight Warren by making Maurillio pretend to be a world-famous crime lord, Chencho Novar. Somehow, the whacky plan works, and Warren agrees to let everyone go but demands five million dollars for Reese.
Ron steps up, claiming to be in possession of five million in his account, and offers to transfer the amount to Warren in exchange for his father-in-law’s life. As it turns out, when Reese suggests Kyla invest in SCOM-coin, an up-and-coming cryptocurrency, Ron listens to his advice despite its debatable legitimacy. The same morning, SCOM-coin prices had hiked, making Ron a millionaire. Therefore, when the time comes, Ron trades in his money for Reese because, as Kyla said, they’re family. In the end, the FBI comes looking for Reese, who had broken out of prison, to see Kyla. As a result, Reese returns to serve his time with a heartfelt goodbye to his daughter, son-in-law, and others.
Does Marcus Secure The Deal With Kim Wae Group?
Throughout the film, regardless of the life-threatening situations Marcus finds himself in, he’s worried about his meeting with Mrs. Kim, the CEO of Kim Wae Group. The Chicago project is incredibly significant as a career milestone for Marcus, and he’s desperate for everything to work out well. Furthermore, after their dangerous adventure, Marcus and Emily admit that neither wants to be a parent yet, which pushes Marcus’ career to his most important priority.
Initially, Marcus constantly tries to impress Yeon, thinking the former is the key to the job. However, after their drunken night out, when Marcus and Ron help the businessman back to his room, Yeon reveals he doesn’t have much sway in the company. Therefore, when Marcus almost blows over his meeting with Mrs. Kim due to Reese’s antics, the outcome doesn’t look good for him.
Although Mrs. Kim waits for Marcus in the meeting room, Marcus only catches up to her as she’s about to leave in her chopper. As a result, Mrs. Kim initially dismisses the idea of finalizing the deal with him. Despite everything she has done to ensure Marcus’ stay at the hotel remains comfortable, he stood her up for 12 minutes— something she couldn’t overlook.
Ultimately, when Mrs. Kim has delivered her verdict, Yeon, who usually doesn’t have the courage to stand up to his boss, vouches for Marcus. Consequently, Yeon learns that Mrs. Kim actually does value his opinion. He just never had the confidence to share them. The film ends with Marcus securing the deal and finding his resolution within the narrative, like the other characters.
Read More: Where Was Vacation Friends 2 Filmed?
