Home Alone stands as a festive favourite in households throughout Britain – and seemingly across the globe.
I remained blissfully unaware of this cultural phenomenon until I began confessing to people that I’d never actually seen it, which revealed just how deeply obsessed viewers are with this particular film.
I was assured that my ‘life would never be the same again’ following a viewing, with people constantly expressing how ‘jealous’ they were that I’d be experiencing it for the first time.
“I’d do anything to watch it again with fresh eyes,” one woman enthused. The expectations for this film had now reached seriously lofty heights, and as someone who would much prefer to settle down with a good book rather than dedicate time to watching the typical movie, I felt apprehensive.
With numerous people on X hailing the film as a “masterpiece,” describing it as “cosy” and “well-crafted,” I braced myself. So, did I believe the 1990 film lived up to all the hype?
Yes and no.
I’ll provide a quick summary of the storyline for those unfamiliar with it, as I was until yesterday evening.
The film centres on an eight year old lad called Kevin McCallister, portrayed by Macaulay Culkin, who belongs to a substantial family.
Existence appears rather chaotic, as it naturally would be for any large household.
Coming from a modest family myself, the pandemonium proved difficult to wrap my head around.
As did the reality that his mum and dad inadvertently abandoned him when they climbed into a minibus bound for the airport to catch their flight to Paris….
Remarkably, they also failed to notice that one of their offspring was absent as they stepped onto the aircraft. The film doesn’t aim to mirror reality, and once I accepted that, the rest of the movie is essentially Kevin amusing himself, being endearing, and having a jolly good time.
However, like any decent film, there are some villains who seem determined to burgle Kevin’s house specifically. Despite numerous obstacles, they persistently return for more.
As I mentioned, it’s not intended to be realistic.
I can envision that, as a child, I would have been squealing with delight at the film’s final scenes, and honestly, I still found them quite entertaining and silly. I must admit, I was chuckling quite a bit.
My favourite part of the film was undoubtedly the original song, ‘Somewhere in my Memory’. Hearing it in its original context, rather than on social media, was lovely.
There is one issue, though. As someone whose favourite Christmas film is The Muppet Christmas Carol, I was somewhat puzzled as to what made this film a Christmas classic, other than the fact that it occurred during that season, and there were Christmas decorations displayed.
I adore The Muppet Christmas Carol because it focuses entirely on Christmas and gets me into the festive spirit, but as much as I enjoyed Home Alone, I don’t feel it necessarily felt Christmassy to me.
Nonetheless, I can completely understand why, if you’ve watched this since childhood, it would be a comfort film for you. It simply depends on what you watched when you were younger.
There’s all the 90s nostalgia of the way things are decorated, and for those born in the 90s, it probably harks back to Christmases past, when everything felt truly magical and you still believed in Santa.
So, will I watch this again? You know what? I reckon I will. I do believe that, even though I’m nearly 30, the nostalgic elements make it worth a watch.
It might be something I put on in the background for atmosphere, rather than sitting and watching it intently, but if you’re in the same boat as I was and have never seen it, do yourself a favour and give it a whirl!