There are many mediocre, copy-and-paste Christmas movies that have been created and, although some can be pretty alright, most are disappointing and lame. And although I love Hallmark movies during the holiday season, they are nowhere near as great as older films. But there’s one that I consider the greatest of all time, one that topples over the rest: “Home Alone.”  

I remember the first time I watched it; sitting with my family at night time, lights turned off and the magical television screen starting up the movie. This film was filled with memories, and for many years after that first watch, I’ve enjoyed returning to it while eating snacks and drinking coffee with my friends. It was a decently famous movie too, with it making around 476 million dollars in the box office worldwide, with an 18 million dollar production budget, according to boxofficemojo.com. This movie was the biggest for its main role, played by Macaulay Culkin, who was only 10 years old at the time.  

I believe there are a few different reasons why, that being its story and plot, the execution and creativity of many scenes, and its overall message.  

The story is about a child of many older children named Kevin, who isn’t as favored compared to his siblings, and is seen as a burden to his family. The family plans to go to Paris, but after wrongly counting the heads of everyone going, Kevin gets left behind, leaving him home alone. On the flight is when his mother realizes that they left him, and her main goal is to go back separately and make sure he’s safe and sound for Christmas day, which is when everyone will return. There are two main conflicts; one being how the mother will get back home, and two being the duo of neighborhood robbers who are trying to steal from different family’s houses before Christmas. Kevin now has to defend his house against the robbers trying to get in, and he does so in many funny ways, which will be explained later.  

Overall, the story is very intriguing, and throughout it you see how Kevin grows and becomes more mature by taking care of himself, while the mother fights to find a way back to her son no matter the cost.  

Personally, watching it as a child is very much different from watching it in your teenage years, since a lot of little details are overlooked and you make a lot of realizations after a few more watches. A simple example would be whenever Kevin’s sister, Linnie, says, “You’re what the French call ‘les incompetents” simply meaning that she is calling him incompetent, but with a little French pizazz. One of my favorite examples is that whenever Kevin’s dad is cleaning up the dinner table before they leave for the trip, there’s a shot in the trash can that shows that he accidentally threw away a plane ticket labeled with Kevin’s name, which is a subtle nod to what the whole movie is about, that being Kevin being left at home alone. These little details make me very happy to watch this film again, simply because they can be clever or just cool to notice after the first few watches.  

As mentioned before, Kevin puts up little traps and mechanisms to ward off the robber duo, and he does so in a lot of fun ways, whether it be super simple, or pretty complex for a child his age. He puts ornaments and Christmas lights on the floor next to one of the windows, has paint cans attached to strings that can swing and hit someone going up the stairs, he heats up the front door handle with an electric BBQ starter, etc. There’s even a point where he puts tar on the basement stairs, causing one of the robbers to take off layers of footwear, then has a nail waiting at a step ahead (which you can guess what happens). The team behind this movie had some purely fantastic ideas that made it special and extremely entertaining and funny for its viewers, giving it many points in the creativity department.  

Although this movie is very fun and has a lot of exciting moments, I think one of my favorite parts is the true meaning at the end. The last scene involves Kevin, who warded off the robbers and got them arrested with a little bit of help, waking up on a white Christmas day realizing his family still isn’t home. He seems sad about this and realizes he misses his family, until all of a sudden his mom searches for him in the house, and after a moment of apology, Kevin smiles and they embrace. I believe that the main point of the story is to remember how important the people in your life are, and to not overlook them or ignore them when they just want to be appreciated. Kevin thought he didn’t need his family, but realizes he really does miss them and cares about them, and his mother realizes that she and the rest of the family needs to appreciate him more and show that he is loved, even if he may be a little different. It’s a beautiful message for a movie that is so fun and filled with laughter, and for those reasons, I would have to say “Home Alone” is the best Christmas movie ever.  

10/10, watch it right now.