"This was bland, it was basic, there's no charm, no message, no wholesome, and no creativity. This is shameful, through and through, but we should of known, Macaulay Culkin confirmed he does not associate with the film, already red flag number 1."
— DazzReviews
"Somehow, Home Sweet Home Alone is the worst one yet. I don't think I've ever checked how many times there are in a movie more than when I was watching this. I think the idea that they were going for was the twist on the usual structure by making the kid the villain and the intruders be the ones we're routing for, but they don't really commit enough to either side that you know who you're supposed to be following, so then everyone ends being annoying and then you watch these normal people getting absolutely oliberated by traps. I think this one goes to show how there's so much you can do with the same premise six more times. At least The Holiday Heist had that whole dumb gaming thing. This was just... no!"
— DiamondBolt
Home Sweet Home Alone is a 2021 American Christmas comedy film directed by Dan Mazer. The film was produced by 20th Century Studios as a Disney+ original film and is also the first 20th Century Studios film to be produced for the streaming service. It is the sixth film in the Home Alone franchise and is a reboot of the original 1990 film by John Hughes, who is credited as the writer for the film. The film follows Max Mercer, a 10-year-old who gets left behind by his family after they go on a flight to go to Japan and has to set traps to defend his house from a couple who wants to steal a family heirloom.
10-year-old Max Mercer (Archie Yates) is accidentally left at home by himself for the holidays when his family goes on a trip to Tokyo, where the family ends up having to take separate flights due to an error in the flight booking. Now he must work to defend his home from Pam and Jeff McKenzie, an evil couple who have arrived to steal a priceless heirloom from his family.
Why It Deserves to Be Left Home Alone
To get the elephant out of the room, rebooting the Home Alone franchise from the start was absolutely unnecessary, because the original movie was already a classic that didn't need to be remade and that the franchise went downhill after the firsttwo movies, as theotherthree sequels ended up being poorly-received among fans (more so 4 than 3 and 5). This film does absolutely nothing to learn from its mistakes and be an improvement over the last three films. Not to mention, it seems like the only reason why Disney even made this movie was to cash in on the franchise to fans of the original movie. In other words, nostalgia pandering.
As a matter of fact, the movie cannot even decide on whether it wants to be a reboot, a remake, a spin-off, a stand-alone film, or a sequel, despite being advertised as a reboot like the third film, much like Ghostbusters (2016), the film feels more like a remake or even a parody as it rehashes the same plot: a kid wishes his family disappears and then his family leaves the house, forgetting they left a child alone, to go on a trip abroad (but with Japan). Meanwhile, two robbers try to steal a special object that is said to cost a fortune. At the same time, the movie also tries to be a sequel, since Buzz McCallister returns here, with Devin Ratray reprising his role, he even acknowledges the events from the firsttwo movies in one scene too, which only adds to the confusion what this movie is supposed to be.
The idea of a Home Alone movie set in modern days is a bit pointless and nonsense if the family in an unlikely scenario leaves their child home alone, they can contact said child via the internet and/or call an Uber to get that child easily.
Pretty bad acting for all the characters, even from talented actors such as Archie Yates, Ellie Kemper, Kenan Thompson, and Rob Delaney (especially the former, who played a role in Jojo Rabbit as Yorki, who gave off a great performance and even won a Critics' Choice Movie Award nomination), so it's sad to see that the cast had their talents wasted.
The sad part: rumors were spreading around the internet that Macaulay Culkin, the actor of Kevin McCallister in the first two films, was going to reprise his role, along with Devin Ratray as his oldest brother Buzz, meaning that a McCallister would return in the film. However, Kevin was eventually revealed to not be in the movie, which is disheartening.
Like the fourth film, some of Kevin's siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins are not seen or heard.
Most of the humor falls flat, which is sad since the team that worked on this film also worked on Borat, which was highly acclaimed by everyone due to its humor, which mostly consists of satire of political correctness. Here, the humor in this movie consists of the following:
In the trap segments, Rob Delaney's character Jeff sometimes gets hit in the groin with a golf ball.
During the part where they climb over the wall, Jeff starts farting in Pam's face, which is the most disgusting scene in the film.
A man on the plane sleeps on Carol in a very creepy way.
Some moments in the film can often be very dumb, they can be stupid to the point where you will most likely facepalm or feel frustrated:
In one scene, Jeff didn't write down the security code for Max's house even though he knew it and the code being three out of four digits repeated. For those wondering - the code is 1112, but Jeff inserts the code as 2221.
An even more baffling thing in the movie is that the Mercer family doesn't bother to check if Max is present while they prepare to leave for Tokyo. In the first Home Alone, Kevin's ticket accidentally gets thrown away in the bin the night before they leave and a random kid is counted as Kevin when they get in the taxi to the airport on the day they leave, leading the McCallisters to believe that Kevin is present. Here, the Mercers don't check to see if everyone is there and only realize Max is missing when they're in Tokyo.
It's clear Jeff and Pam see Max at one point in the church scene which signals to them that he is the only occupant in the house as his family left, but instead of asking Max to permit to enter, they devise a plan to break in despite Jeff not wanting risk getting jailed. The film's premise would've been averted had they just talked with the child given the situation they are in, and they do easily convince Max with no problem during the climax.
The film has almost no connection to the first two films (except for the fact that Buzz McCallister, Kevin's brother from the first two and fourth films, appears in this movie once again). The brand-new family in this film do not go to Paris or Florida, they only go to Tokyo, and most of them in this movie are British, so as a result, it instead feels more like a parody of said film rather than a reboot.
Very poor direction from Dan Mazer and the story from Mikey Day, the latter of whom has directed many better films such as The Exchange and co-wrote and co-produced the films based on Baron Cohen's characters such as Ali G Indahouse, Borat and Brüno, not helping is that he also directed the infamous movie Dirty Grandpa (not to be confused with Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa) while the latter also wrote the infamous Brother Nature.
While the special effects do look nice for a digital-only film, it tends to look bland compared to the previous movies, such as the scene where Max and Jeff start flying after jumping on a trampoline, which has obvious wiring added for the actors.
Some of the moments look very violent and disturbing even when compared to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
In one scene, Pam starts flying across the room when Max puts a dumbbell onto the treadmill, which causes it to hit the yoga ball that Pam was holding. In reality, doing so would injure or even kill someone as a result of that!
In the VR scene, Jeff would've likely got brain damage as he mostly injured his head by hitting a wall. And after that scene, Jeff gains a large bump on his head that looks revolting to look at.
The icy road trap was very dangerous as it could've been another person driving that road and would've been seriously injured instead of the couple.
It should be noted that in the previous movies, the burglars had their reactions overly exaggerated to comedic effect, while here the couple's reaction sounds rather distressed and demotivated with examples being Pam crying after being burnt and the duo desperately pleading for Max to stop which feels rather depressing than humorous.
Some of the characters are unlikable and/or are not as well-written as the ones in the original movie.
Max Mercer, who is played by the wasted talent of Archie Yates, is very unlikable. Even though he isn't the worst character in the movie, he whines about soda and then steals a soda can which caused the whole mess in the first place, always contemplates taking toys that were meant for needy children, and doesn't try to bother hearing Pam and Jeff out despite the two not wanting to hurt him until the end of the film. Granted, he's 10, but still.
Compared to the antagonists, Max is not very developed enough as a character to validate his motivation for defending the home, and his reason for not liking his family is not established well enough. Apart from his mother, we barely get any family members interacting with Max which negates his proof of wanting to be alone. Also regarding this, he barely has any interaction with Pam and Jeff to establish the conflict between them on why he would have to fight them.
Jeff's brother, Hunter, is just a stereotypical "wealthy and snobby relative" who just appears to rub in Jeff's misery.
Hunter's son Ollie is the worst character of the movie. He took a rare doll that resulted in the McKenzies getting tortured in the whole movie. He also doesn't seem to learn any lesson about taking toys that aren't his and gets off scot-free of his actions, making him a Karma Houdini.
The main problem with the antagonists is that they are way too relatable to even be considered the bad guys and are focused more than Max. Pam and Jeff are established as a nice family who are at risk of losing their home, but they aren't despicable or even evil like the original villains, Marv and Harry, who are shown as crooks who invade homes and steal valuables without remorse. Here in this film, their motivation is to find a rare doll that is rightfully their property to secure their house and family, which they think Max took for himself. And regarding the traps, it's not even funny if the traps were directed against an unfortunate person which serves to prolong their misery. Because the villains are given a more established backstory, they feel more like the focus of the film than Max and this makes the traps less effective against the audience. It makes the audience want to root for the "villains" instead.
It also makes the main character less likable due to a silly misunderstanding that they going to kidnap him to some elderly ladies. The child protagonists in the last films have the goal to defend their home from intruders and to stall them for the police to make an arrest, a selfless cause that makes them heroic. Here it seems Max is actively trying to kill and defend his life (not protecting his family's home) from the desperate couple, which is a way weaker and less heroic motive than the previous ones, and to the point where, again, the audience might root against him instead of rooting for him.
Like Home Alone 4, it feels more like a pilot episode for a TV show that was supposed to be made after the film's production.
Speaking of the product placement for the Wii, it feels extremely outdated to refer to that console as it wasn't new or relevant when the film was released since the Wii was a console from the seventh generation of video games consoles, and it came out in 2006 (which is 15 years ago) and was discontinued in 2013 (also 2013 for the Family Edition and 2017 for the Wii Mini). Granted, movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel had product placement for the Wii, but at least that one made a bit more sense because that movie was released in 2009, which was during a time when the Wii was only three years and still in production. With this movie, it doesn't even matter because was released in 2021, which is during a time when the Nintendo Switch is a much more relevant and popular console, and even the Wii U was discontinued, but yet this movie refers to a console that came out two console generations ago in 2021.
The VR headset is an example of this movie's product placement trying to be "hip, relevant, and cool" with the kids, though VR headsets trended in 2017, more than 10 years after the Wii had come out.
No Traditional Home Alone Poster: Much like second and third films (although Lost in New York was positivity received), the poster does not show the main protagonist screaming, instead, it depicts him smiling and holding two toy guns.
Many traps from previous installments were lazily reused, such as the ice trap from the first Home Alone and the spicy cookie trap from Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, showing how unoriginal they were handling them. Heck, even the Home Alone mockbuster, Alone For Christmas, had traps that this film rips off, like the treadmill trap!
The new traps are also dumb and don't make sense, such as the treadmill trap somehow launching Pam across the second floor and back to the entrance, or Jeff bouncing off a broken trampoline and somehow hitting a tree. The VR trap is by far the most nonsensical. Why didn't Jeff take the VR headset off? How does Jeff think he's on a cliff when he's clearly inside the Mercer home? Plus, the visuals they use for the cliff are very cheaply made and far from realistic.
Also, the film has no clue how a VR works: when Jeff finds himself in the virtual cliff world, he is also able to see his entire body in the experience, as if there was a function that allows the VR to track his body... which there is not.
It tries way too hard to be hip with the kids, like a selfie moment from one of the Marcers, hashtag references, several instances of the word "lit" and a kid unironically saying "Yo momma!", which feels extremely out of place since this is a Home Alone film, and while Home Alone: The Holiday Heist had a protagonist who plays games, at least it doesn't try to be hip and cool and most focus on the terrible humor instead.
It was revealed that the doll that Pam and Jeff went to Max's house for wasn't there the entire time, making a large portion of the film a huge waste of the viewers' time, other than the entire slapstick sequence that happens in pretty much every Home Alone movie, including this one.
Despite being a family movie, there are a couple of moments that are not suitable for children, like the one scene where one of Max's sisters calls him a pervert for accidentally touching her while she's using the VR headset. Keep in mind, this is a kids' movie, and yet they have a piece of dialogue like this.
At times, the movie can be pretty offensive for some, as it often insults its viewers by showcasing negative stereotypes:
There was a scene where Max dresses up as a woman, which is not only extremely pointless and unnecessary but is also very insulting to the LGBTQ+ community.
The movie even insults the people who hate this movie in a scene where the McKenzie family are watching a sci-fi movie remake of Angels With Filthy Souls and make a joke about how remakes are never as good as the original. This is ironic, as this movie is in itself a remake and is nowhere near as good as the original. It's like the movie itself knows it's bad and is taking jabs at the audiences who think otherwise in a horrible attempt to be "meta".
Whilst the musical score is decent, some pieces of music or songs are used poorly, most notably in the scene where it plays "Somewhere In My Memory" during the scene where the mother has a flashback about her happy memories with her family, which doesn't fit the scene at all, as the song was never used explicitly for a happy scene, despite the song itself being happy, as in the original movie, it was supposed to be used for a sad and emotional scene where Kevin walks his way back home and notices all the families being happy together and celebrating their Christmas, which was an excellent use of the song.
The cinematography by Mitchell Amundsen is terrible and unappealing, especially compared to the other films he was previously associated with, such as Now You See Me and Transformers.
Bad Release Date: The movie was supposed to be released around Christmas, which is on December 25th, yet it was released on November 12th to coincide with Disney+ Day, which is way too early, and the fact that the month is Thanksgiving, thinking that this movie was a scam for people who wanted to watch it for Christmas.
Redeeming Qualities
While Kevin doesn't return, at least Buzz, his older brother, finally returns for the first time since his appearance in Home Alone: Taking Back the House as well as Devin Ratray's first appearance since Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, now working as a police officer, and it was nice seeing his actor finally reprising his role.
On top of that, Kevin does at least get mentioned by Buzz. At least that's better than pretending he never existed.
Some scenes are kind of funny, like the scene where Max uses a Balance Ball as a weapon during the treadmill scene, only for Pam to catch it and sarcastically act as if she was in great pain.
The ending isn't all that bad, as Max becomes likable, everyone celebrates their Christmas together with Jeff getting a new job, and unlike the original film's ending, there is no mean-spirited humor at all (like the scene where Buzz yells at Kevin for wrecking his room).
They do at least kind of explain why Max can't just call the police when he overhears the couple's plan, as he feared his mother would get arrested for negligence, which is somewhat understandable.
The score by John Debney is amazing, as it even contained the original score of the film and is considered to be by far the only good part of the film. The movie's intro "Home for The Holidays" is still a pretty good song, alongside the ending theme "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
The characters, except for Max Mercer, Jeff, and Pam, aren't too bad and are likable, despite some being dumb.
Unlike the notorious Home Alone 4, there is a nice continuity nod to the first two films, as Buzz mentions that they left Kevin behind on vacation twice and that the "idiot does it every year", it is even revealed that Kevin starting working for a modern home security company. Considering how badly Taking Back the House was at handling the Home Alone continuity, it's nice to see this film have some connection to the first two films at least.
This scene also technically writes off Taking Back the House as non-canon to the franchise.
Even if this movie is completely unnecessary, it can still be nice to see a Home Alone film after nine years, which is actually saying a lot.
While most of the acting is pretty bad, Kristina Klebe did a pretty good job voicing Homebot.
Even with the acting being pretty bad in this movie, at least all of the international dubs of Home Sweet Home Alone provide better acting than the live-action acting in this movie, and can much more pleasant to watch than the bad acting in the American version.
Reception
Trailer reaction
On October 12, 2021, the trailer for the film was released on the 20th Century Studios YouTube channel (but not the Disney+ or the Walt Disney Studios channels), revealing that Buzz McCallister would be returning. The trailer received overwhelmingly negative reviews from audiences and fans of the first two films (even most fans of the previous three films). The trailer received 86K dislikes over 21K likes, like the The Emoji Movie trailer, which got more dislikes than likes. Many people in video reactions also hated the trailer, saying that it should’ve never existed.
Critical reception
Upon release, Home Sweet Home Alone received generally negative reviews from critics and was universally panned by audiences and even fans alike, with many saying that it made both Home Alone 3 and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist look like masterpieces in comparison, and even though many fans deemed it to be better than Home Alone: Taking Back the House, some fans even went as far as to call this the worst movie in the entire Home Alone franchise and to deem it worse than Taking Back the House. The criticism was mainly aimed at the screenplay and the generously negative comparison of the original Home Alone.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 15% based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 5.1/10, as well as an audience approval rating of 12%, making it the lowest-ratedHome Alone movie on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads: "Nobody's Home.", and the audience consensus reads: "With a ridiculous story and an obnoxious main character who's harder to root for than the "villains," Home Sweet Home Alone is no fun for the whole family." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on sixteen critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The user score is 1.7 out of 10 based on 75 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike." The film was ranked #10 on WatchMojo's "Top 10 Worst Movies of 2021" and has a 3.6/10 rating on IMDb.
This is Archie Yates' second Fox movie since Jojo Rabbit (2019), which launched his acting career.
This is the first Home Alone film to be digital-only, as the first three were released in theaters while the other two were made for television.
This is also the first film to be a Disney+ original and also the third film to be from Disney, with the first and second being Taking Back the House and The Holiday Heist.
It was released on Disney+'s second anniversary of its launch in 2019.
It is also the first 20th Century Studios film to be released exclusively on Disney+.
Aisling Bea, who is Irish, received criticism for using an English accent in the film. She said in an interview that "people were trying to connect it to some form of oppression because it was American people getting me to do an English accent". She said she had used many accents in her career and dismissed the criticism as "sort of what Twitter was created for: people to complain about things that don’t matter".
Before the release of the trailer, there was a rumor that Macaulay Culkin was going to reprise his role for Kevin McCallister along with Devin Ratray as his brother Buzz. Even though it was revealed that Ratray was going to reprise his role for Buzz McCallister as seen in the first trailer, it was revealed by Culkin on Twitter that he wasn't going to reprise his role.[1]
It was originally thought that Finn Baxter from the previous film would return in this film.
Home Sweet Home Alone at the Internet Movie Database
Home Sweet Home Alone on Rotten Tomatoes
Home Sweet Home Alone on Metacritic