When old friends Terry (Tyler Perry), Diane (Sharon Leal), Angela (Tasha Smith), Marcus (Michael Jai White), Sheila (Jill Scott), Troy (Lamman Rucker), and Mike (Richard T. Jones) get together in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again?, it seems like they’ve outgrown most of their bad habits — the ones responsible for the chaos of the franchise’s previous two films, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?.
After all, they’ve gathered for a happy occasion, which is the comedy’s crescendo ending: celebrating the Lake Como, Italy–set wedding of Angela and Marcus’s daughter, Jasmine (Armani Greer), to Wesley (Everett Osborne), son of Roselyn (Taraji P. Henson), one of the group’s longtime friends. Yet mere moments after the gang reunites, it becomes clear that their Rimowa suitcases hold a lot more baggage than just black-tie attire.
Secret relationships and mistakes threaten to spill over and derail the entire weekend. True to the franchise’s tradition, the friends take turns airing each other’s dirty laundry, rehashing old wounds, and litigating fresh missteps.
As they stumble — and even make some choices identical to their parents’ decisions decades earlier — Angela, Marcus, Terry, Diane, Sheila, and Troy start to give their younger selves some grace. The gang will always be plagued by the dramedy’s titular question, but now it’s time for a new generation to ask the same thing: Why did I get married?
Keep reading to unpack the ending of Why Did I Get Married Again?.
Before we can send off the happy couple in a cloud of rice and well wishes, they face a few bumps in the road — proving just how far (not very!) the apple falls from the tree. Jasmine and Wesley are hiding a series of infidelities, much to the surprise of the older generation.
The film’s elders begin discussing Jasmine and Wesley’s relationship after the kickoff dinner. Sheila confides in Diane that she’s worried about the bride- and groom-to-be. Weeks earlier, Jasmine called Sheila, and Sheila heard Wesley screaming at her in the background. Sheila, who was emotionally abused by Mike in the first movie, is panicked that her beloved friends’ daughter is in trouble. Even though Jasmine insists nothing is wrong, Sheila, and now Diane, are worried. Jasmine asks both her aunts to promise not to say anything to Angela, and they agree.
But in Italy the truth comes out . At the rehearsal dinner, Jasmine admits that before Wesley proposed to her, he cheated on her. To get even, Jasmine then strayed as well — but got an STD in the process. Having déjà vu? That’s because it’s exactly what happens between Angela and Marcus, Jasmine’s parents, in Why Did I Get Married?.
Jasmine says that she didn’t feel comfortable sharing this because she thinks her parents are perfect. The other kids — Terry and Diane’s children, Kenya (Laya Deleon Hayes) and T.J. (Jaden Michael), and Troy and Sheila’s son, Denver (Charles L. Smith) — agree, telling the older generation how daunting it is living in their shadow.
Terry, Diane, Angela, Marcus, Sheila, and Troy quickly jump in to correct the record, sharing their own slew of mistakes and challenges. As Terry puts it, “Everybody struggles. Everybody’s going through something. It’s not about how bad it is, but how you move through it. This is what real love is, this is what marriage is. It’s ugly sometimes, and it’s messy. But it’s beautiful, and it’s perfect, and it’s worth it when you stand there with that person and fight.”
These words of wisdom send Jasmine and Wesley down the aisle in a beautiful candle-lit ceremony. Jasmine and Wesley’s relationship may be far from perfect, but they have the tools — and familial examples — to make it through. When the going gets tough, they can ask themselves, “Why did I get married in the first place?”
Each couple continues to grow and evolve in surprising ways in the third installment:
Diane and Terry have worked through their issues around infidelity and lifestyle differences, and have found a steady equilibrium — maybe even too steady. Early in the movie, Diane hints that things have become a bit predictable. Towards the end of the film, in a sudden break from his typically calm demeanor, Terry stands up to Mike, and then asks Diane, “Is that spontaneous enough for you?”
Ever-fiery Angela and Marcus haven’t fought in years — or so they say. Cracks in their allegedly peaceful front start to show as their son, Marcus Jr. (Da’Vinchi), treads into dangerous territory with his ex-girlfriend Regina (Sydney Winbush), who is now dating Mike. But the solid foundation they’ve built helps them get over the bumps along the way to their daughter Jasmine’s wedding.
Sheila has been busy taking care of her mom, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and Troy has been as supportive as ever. When Sheila gets a glimpse into Jasmine and Wesley’s relationship, she worries that all is not right between the young couple. However, Sheila’s honesty about her own past only brings everyone closer.
Roselyn, a longtime friend of those in the group but new to the Why Did I Get Married? franchise, is coming off a nasty divorce which has seeped into her relationship with her son, Wesley. Life hasn’t been all business for the real estate mogul, though — keep reading to meet her unexpected love interest.
Nick is an unexpected wedding guest who turns out to have a deeper connection to the group. We learn that this mystery man used to be Wesley’s middle school tutor — but now dates Wesley’s mom, Roselyn. Only, Roselyn hasn’t told any of her friends about their relationship, and shared the news with Wesley just days before. After witnessing the group’s derisive reaction to Mike’s much younger girlfriend Regina, you can understand why Roselyn has been keeping her May-December relationship private.
Wesley is furious when he learns that Nick has joined the weekend festivities, and lets Roselyn know in a very public confrontation. Roselyn and Wesley’s dad, Harvey, had a complicated divorce, and Wesley still blames his mom for much of the drama. Later in the movie, Nick and Roselyn reveal the true story: Harvey struggles with drug addiction, and every choice Roselyn has made has been in an effort to protect Wesley’s image of his dad.
At first, Nick’s arrival causes a stir, and Roselyn asks him to leave. But when Nick comes to her rescue during this climactic moment between Roselyn and Wesley, she decides to let him love her.
(Re)watch all the highs, lows, and laughs of Why Did I Get Married Again?, now streaming.
