WHAT IS IT ABOUT
Oh. What. Fun. is an original Prime large ensemble Christmas comedy that focuses on the unsung heroes of Christmas: the mothers who plan and work tirelessly in the background so that their families can have a great time on Christmas Eve. It focuses on one in particular, Claire, who, tired of being underappreciated by her husband and children, decides to just drive away on Christmas Eve, forcing the family to realize how much they depend on her.
CONTEXT
Nothing feels more strategically safe in the current streaming landscape than a new Christmas original. For Prime Video, which has specifically offered in 2025 its own versions of almost every genre of early 2000s video store rental favorite (rom-com, political action thriller, an Eddie Murphy vehicle and a psychological thriller), closing out the year with a star-filled holiday celebration, one aimed mainly at moms, feels only fitting.
The film is based on a short story by Chandler Baker, who described it as Home Alone but with the mom left behind. It stars a large ensemble cast with Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Joan Chen, Chloë Grace Moretz and Dominic Sessa, and is directed by Michael Showalter, responsible for last year’s biggest Prime hit, The Idea of You. Combining the mildly interesting premise with this amount of talent behind and in front of the camera is the kind of package that seems engineered to live on Prime’s most watched page for the whole of December, regardless of its overall quality.
EXECUTION
Unfortunately, unlike Showalter’s latest Prime original, Oh. What. Fun. is plagued by many of the pitfalls increasingly associated with streaming originals: bland visuals, a disjointed script and a clear lack of interest from the actors involved, who appear to be doing the bare minimum. There is a clear sense that the premise, interesting on its own, was rushed into production and there was little interest in truly crafting a new Christmas classic.
The film is certainly at its best when it leans on its premise and lets Michelle Pfeiffer loose and unhinged. It takes a while to get there, and it never pushes as far as it could, but seeing the usually very composed and classy actress allow herself some messy hair and a cringe inducing dance offers its pleasures. She never quite reaches the level of Diane Keaton charm and charisma needed to make the role endearing and forgive a lot of the script’s inconsistencies, but when the film occasionally focuses on her frustrations and actions, she is able to maintain interest. A breakdown that opens the film and her interactions with Joan Chen are by far the film’s most memorable aspects.
She is surrounded, however, by one of the most obnoxious families ever to grace this kind of feel good movie (a very tall order indeed), all terribly written and performed. Each character has a very clichéd arc that goes from bad (Sammy coping with his recent breakup), to awful (Taylor’s relationship with her girlfriend), to downright creepy (Doug’s attempts to interact with Taylor). These last two subplots in particular showcase some of the worst acting of the year courtesy of a very embarrassing Chloë Grace Moretz and an inexplicable Jason Schwartzman. Also, for a movie that opens with the mother complaining her sons do not value her, she is painted as a terrible one who selfishly has things her way, buying tickets for a concert no one wants to go to, constantly letting the son off the hook when he needs a good wake up call, and speaking ill about the daughter for being unable to keep a relationship.
There are occasional individual scenes and jokes that work, such as the escape from the shopping mall (which is inexplicably edited in parallel with a burning dessert), the husband gathering his friends to build the doll-house, and the aforementioned interactions with the neighbors, but everything surrounding them is, unlike the title suggests, not very fun.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ultimately, Oh. What. Fun. might provoke some occasional chuckles, courtesy of a loose Michelle Pfeiffer, but with some of the most obnoxious characters seen in recent years and some very lame plot points, the film ends up turning its title into unintentional sarcasm. It is not a future Christmas classic.