Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 108 mins

UK Distributor: Prime Video

UK Release Date: 3 December 2025

WHO’S IN OH. WHAT. FUN.?

Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Danielle Brooks, Dominic Sessa, Denis Leary, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow, Devery Jacobs, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, Joan Chen, Rose Abdoo

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Michael Showalter (director, writer, producer), Chandler Baker (writer), Kate Churchill, Jordana Mollick, Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh (producers), Siddhartha Khosla (composer), Jim Frohna (cinematographer), Alisa Lepselter and Nick Moore (editors)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

An overworked mother (Pfeiffer) leaves her family on their own for Christmas…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON OH. WHAT. FUN.?

You know a modern-day Christmas movie is struggling with its own self-confidence when it opens with mentioning and even showing the box covers for several other classic Christmas movies (a habit it continues throughout by showing clips from Elf, The Polar Express, A Charlie Brown Christmas and more), as if to say “all of these you could be watching instead of this one”. And to its credit, Oh. What. Fun. might have been onto something there.

First, let’s address that title. Beyond the fact that it sounds like the marketing team got the tagline confused with the actual title, there is simply no way to say it out loud without sounding like a sardonic tool, which I know is supposed to be the point (and hilariously ironic) but if someone were to ask you what movie you wanted to watch this festive season and you respond with “Oh. What. Fun.”, that someone would think you’re kind of a dick. Unless you actually decided to show them the film itself, in which case they’d just be frustrated with you that, again, you could be watching so many of the other and much more wholesome Christmas movies than this forgettable, sluggish bore that is saved only by a committed ensemble trying their best with limited and unadventurous material.

The film is about Claire Clauster (Michelle Pfeiffer), a woman who is dedicated to giving her family the best Christmas every year (after all, “Claus” is literally in her name – ugh), to where all she wants in return is for her adult children – writer Channing (Felicity Jones), drifter Sammy (Dominic Sessa) and philanderer Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) – to enter her into a nationwide contest run by TV talk show host Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria) celebrating the hard-working mothers at Christmas. But as we quickly discover, none have taken the bait: whether they’re dealing with their own issues or are just so accustomed to Claire bringing the Christmas magic year after year, nobody in this family seems to truly appreciate everything that she does while they sit around waiting for it all to happen. Finally having had enough, Claire goes AWOL on Christmas Eve, driving out to attend a taping of Zazzy’s show whilst leaving her children and her husband Nick (Denis Leary), along with Channing’s husband Doug (Jason Schwartzman) and Taylor’s current girlfriend Donna (Devery Jacobs), to realise that Christmas just isn’t right without her.

Right away, Oh. What. Fun. – again, that is an impossible title to say out loud – makes clear that its focus is on celebrating mothers just like Claire who similarly put everything into the holidays and get little to no love in return. To be fair, it is a nice sentiment, especially for families who perhaps take their matriarchs too much for granted, especially at this time of year. But director Michael Showalter, who also co-wrote the script with Chandler Baker (on whose short story the movie is based), doesn’t really do much else with that concept other than to use it as an excuse for some fairly mild family shenanigans, where the most outrageous thing that happens in Claire’s absence is someone overcooking the pecan treats. Otherwise, it never really feels like this family is entirely incompetent without their matriarch, so the notion that this is meant to show how vital mothers are at Christmastime falls a little flat and even comes across as more than a little pandering.

Above all, you don’t really care much for this household, because they’re mostly just a bunch of selfish, entitled rogues who perhaps need the best Christmas present of all: family therapy. For one, Moretz’s Taylor, for instance, is clearly cheating on multiple partners without any genuine recognition towards the sweet lovers she ends up hurting. For another, Sessa’s Sammy is a sullen sod too consumed with his recent break-up to even make his presence lively, to where you wish you were instead watching the actor in the far superior Christmas movie The Holdovers. Even Pfeiffer’s Claire has moments where it feels like she’s about to go on a psychotic rampage, whether it’s passive-aggressively responding to one of her children’s suggestions for future family gatherings or, in one weirdly unnecessary set-piece, shoplifting a giant cup-shaped candle from a mall on Christmas Eve. Thank goodness they’re all played by talented actors who can conjure up charm like it’s nothing, because these characters are not likeable enough to justify watching a whole movie about their WASP-y problems.

Honestly, this movie fits right alongside all the countless ensemble Christmas movies about dysfunctional families that we always seem to get at least once every winter, specifically ones like The Family Stone or Almost Christmas or Christmas with the Coopers (though this one is a lot better than Surviving Christmas with the Relatives). If you’ve seen any of them, then chances are you’ll know exactly what to expect with Oh. What. Fun. as well, as it doesn’t do anything radically different and leans into all the usual tropes, right down to the pitch-perfect neighbour family (headed by Dìdi and The Wedding Banquet star Joan Chen) who are probably on the same WhatsApp group chat as Ned Flanders, Kramer and various other sitcom neighbours.

It’s all just in one ear and out the other, unlikely to inspire any real festive joy unless you take its opening hint and switch over to any one of the Christmas movies it name-drops or shows clips from. And if you don’t and are stuck with this one, Oh. What. Fun. is all you’ll be thinking of, in more ways than one.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Oh. What. Fun. (a title that is impossible to say without sounding like a tool) is a forgettable would-be celebration of hard-working mothers at Christmas that doesn’t do much with its concept, aside from mild shenanigans with a talented ensemble playing characters who are hard to warm towards.

Click here or check below to find where you can stream Oh. What. Fun. now, thanks to JustWatch!