In 2013, The Best Man Holiday became the sequel to the original 1999 film that fans didn’t even believe was possible.

That’s right. Fourteen years after The Best Man was released in theaters, a second film, The Best Man Holiday, made its box office debut on Nov. 15, 2013. The film continued the original movie’s themes of love, friendship, faith, and forgiveness, adding a new layer of life and legacy. It wasn’t long before those watching learned that the main character, Mia (Monica Calhoun), was battling terminal cancer.

What Is ‘The Best Man Holiday’ about?

The official tagline for the film is “Times change. Friendship doesn’t,” and according to the logline for The Best Man Holiday, “When college friends reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays, they discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances to be reignited.”

Along with Monica Calhoun reprising her role as Mia, The Best Man Holiday also features original cast members like Morris Chestnut as Lance Sullivan, Taye Diggs as Harper Stewart, Sanaa Lathan as Robyn, Terrence Howard as Quentin Spivey, Harold Perrineau as Julian Murch, Regina Hall as Candace, and Melissa De Sousa as Shelby Taylor.

How does ‘The Best Man Holiday’ end?

As the group reunites after 14 years apart, it seems as if no time has passed. However, for Mia and Lance, each waking moment is treated like the last as they work together to bring the friends together to celebrate Christmas.

Much like the original, the sequel gives fans scenes that will never be forgotten, like the fellas’ performance of New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain” in the living room or the moment that they discover their friend Mia doesn’t have much longer to live due to an ongoing battle with terminal cancer.

Shortly after the holiday, Mia passes away, and her death becomes the catalyst for healing among the friends. It brings unresolved conflicts to the surface, ultimately helping to rekindle and even strengthen the bonds formed when they were in college.

The film also serves as a redemption story for Harper, whom Mia invites to write Lance’s biography despite the lingering tension between the two for the betrayal that came to a head during Lance’s bachelor party in The Best Man.

Is there a happy ending in ‘The Best Man Holiday’?

Ultimately, The Best Man Holiday showcases the fragility of life and how it can be gone or take a turn for the worse at any given moment. Suppose you ask anyone who may have gone to the theater to watch the film in real time during its 2013 release. In that case, they may tell you that there wasn’t a dry eye in the vicinity when Lance broke down at his wife Mia’s gravesite following her funeral service, and his best man, Harper, was right there to console him despite their differences in the past.

The Best Man Holiday doesn’t end all bad, however, because the revelation that Harper and his wife Robyn are expecting their first child was one of the surprises to kick off the film. The movie ends with them giving birth to a baby girl on Christmas Day, using the moment to pay homage to their now-late friend Mia by naming her Mia Elizabeth Stewart.

What happened after ‘The Best Man Holiday’?

In December 2022, Peacock released The Best Man: Final Chapters. This limited series brought the original characters back together to close out the book of the beloved friend group that the culture first fell in love with in 1999.

The Best Man, The Best Man Holiday and The Best Man: Final Chapters are available to stream on Peacock.

Christmas classics

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week