Oh. What. Fun. shows what happens when dear mom finally reaches her breaking point. Michelle Pfeiffer sports a sweet Texas drawl while standing up for underappreciated mothers who are taken for granted by their bickering families during the holidays. All the cooking, cleaning, shopping, decorating, and gift wrapping aren’t done by an unfeeling, care robot or unpaid servant; moms deserve respect for everything they selflessly do. That laudable theme, combined with varying degrees of chemistry from the film’s all-star cast, helps overcome bouts of strained humor. Oh. What. Fun. never delivers any “ho ho ho” belly laughs, but a climactic scene between Pfeiffer and Felicity Jones endearingly strikes a warm note on the way to the feel-good ending.
Initially set in Houston, Texas, on Christmas Eve, a perturbed Claire Clauster (Pfeiffer) gives stern advice to a car full of unruly kids packed in a car at a gas station. The film then flashes back several days earlier to Claire preparing for her adult children’s arrival. Her suburban home looks like a Christmas card as Nick (Denis Leary) ignores his wife while she’s trying to tell him something important. Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria), Claire’s favorite daytime TV talk show host, is having a “Holiday Mom’s Contest” that will be broadcast live on Christmas Day and Claire has been begging her family for months to enter her in the contest.
Channing (Jones), Claire’s eldest daughter and a successful novelist, arrives first with her husband Doug (Jason Schwartzman) and their two children. Next comes Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz), her queer middle child, who always brings a new girlfriend each year to the festivities. This time it’s DJ Sweatpants, aka Donna (Devery Jacobs), who everyone artificially greets as “the one.” Last, we get the youngest, Sammy (Dominic Sessa), an unemployed camp counselor. He’s brooding after just being dumped by his girlfriend (Maude Apatow). The Clauster reunion is interrupted by Claire’s neighbor and adversary, as Jeanne Wang-Wasserman’s (Joan Chen) snide comment about Claire’s decorations gets her blood boiling. What else could go wrong as her frustration hits a peak? Well, no one submitted Claire for Zazzy Tim’s contest.
Oh. What. Fun. has Claire running the gamut of Christmas chores in a packed first act. The siblings argue incessantly about their differences, with Claire always in the background like a screen saver. She’s serving every meal, doing the dishes, putting ornaments on the lawns, and playing mediator while no one raises a finger. Her family just assumes that Christmas will get done without realizing the significant efforts involved. What Claire does next has surely been contemplated by every mom who’s had enough. Director/co-writer Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) gives Claire ample reasons to lose her cool and abscond.
We understand why Claire’s upset when a major plot twist spurs her radical action, but the biggest problem is that this primary arc gets lost in the weeds with inane subplots. The film has a large supporting ensemble interacting on different levels, but each character has something going on that detracts from Claire’s story. Most aren’t interesting and take up space without adding anything useful to the narrative. For example, Doug’s a bore who desperately wants to be hipster Taylor’s bestie. She couldn’t care less about her brother-in-law and pretty much ignores him. Schwartzman and Moretz are capable actors, but their characters aren’t likable. Taylor’s especially a jerk without any redeeming values. Doug repeatedly tries to curry favor with someone clearly not worthy of his time or attention.
Oh. What. Fun. loses steam with ongoing gags that elicit minor chuckles. Nick spends the entire film trying to assemble a toy for his grandkids. The movie then milks this joke dry without a satisfying payoff. This is also the case with Claire’s ongoing rivalry with Jeanne. Her obsession with besting Jeanne at every turn goes off the rails silly. It works at first, then balloons into extended scenes that have little comedic impact for the significant time spent. A large set piece concerning their escalating brinkmanship could honestly have been cut.
The movie does hit a bullseye with its honest portrayal of Claire’s relationship with Channing, who’s a wife and mother with her own legitimate opinions on how things should get done. Channing’s guilty of not appreciating her mother’s sacrifices, but Claire’s also to blame for not respecting her. Channing has done everything right and should be the apple of her mother’s eye. Claire simply expects greatness from Channing without acknowledgment. She then cuts her other children more slack, which isn’t fair. Channing’s never good enough, while her brother and sister get away with being slackers. Jones and Pfeiffer are magnificent in a powerful resolve that highlights the film.
Showalter’s Oh. What. Fun. won’t be a Christmas viewing staple, but it does shine a light on truly unheralded heroes. The lesson here is that Mrs. Claus deserves the same praise as Santa. Thank your mom during the holidays. Then get off the couch and help.
Oh. What. Fun. is a production of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Semi Formal Productions, and TriBeCa Productions. It will be available globally to stream December 3 exclusively on Prime Video.
- Release Date
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December 2, 2025
- Director
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Michael Showalter
- Writers
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Chandler Baker, Michael Showalter
- Producers
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Jane Rosenthal, Kate Churchill, Jordana Mollick, Michael Showalter, Berry Welsh
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