REVIEW: ‘Oh. What. Fun’ Rightfully Puts The Spotlight On Moms

Oh What Fun is a reminder for many families of the hard work moms do behind the scenes to make holiday magic happen, and how often things fall apart without that special touch. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Denis Leary, Dominic Sessa, with Jason Schwartzman and Eva Longoria, this latest holiday movie from Amazon MGM Studios milks the awkwardness and natural tension built into the holiday season that families everywhere may find all too familiar.

Opening in media res, we meet an exasperated Claire Clauster (Michelle Pfeiffer) at a gas station. Witnessing some rowdy kids trapped in a car with an exhausted mother, she tells them, as politely as she can, in no uncertain terms, to treat their mother better or else. It perfectly captures where Claire is coming from without any additional information, then Oh What Fun flings us backwards in time to when her frustrations began.

Here, Claire is bustling around trying to get everything in tip-top shape for Christmas. With grandchildren en route and the entire family gathering together for this annual tradition, everything must be absolutely perfect. Deep in her heart, though, all Claire wants to be is recognized for how hard she works, and she wants to be publicly recognized for it on the talk show hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria), who embodies the motherhood she strives to achieve.

This family is totally chaotic and 110% relatable in Oh What Fun.

As the family comes together, frictions immediately surface in Oh What Fun. Passive-aggressive jabs are made under the breath by the eldest daughter, Channing Clauster (Felicity Jones), at every turn, hoping to be recognized and respected in her own right.

Her husband, Doug (Jason Schwartzman), tries desperately to establish a bond with Channing’s younger sister and resident middle child, Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz), the resident cool kid who always has to be dating somebody.

Topping off this chaotic bunch is the newly single Sammy (Dominic Sessa), the youngest of the fam, who goes through it emotionally. While juggling these varying personalities, Claire is left holding the bulk of the responsibility as the too-chill patriarch, Nick (Denis Leary), spends his time alternating between building a dollhouse and watching PBS documentaries (a good choice, but none too helpful).

Michelle Pfeiffer is a worthy matriarch, even when her Claire loses the reins in Oh What Fun.

In the midst of the chaos is a petty rivalry between Claire and her perfectly pristine neighbor, Jean Wang (Joan Chen), who is everything Claire aspires to be. Jean’s children are appreciative of her efforts and kind of perfect, everything Claire feels her family is not. Once Claire is left behind at home during a pivotal family outing, it’s no surprise she finally loses it, because underneath it all, she just wants her work to be finally acknowledged.

Oh What Fun is best described as a tale of two halves. The first half of the film is the buildup before the fall, with family and neighbor dynamics established to explain why Claire is in the state she’s in at the film’s opening. The prickly chemistry among the Clauster family members is incredibly believable, with several moments of passive-aggressive barbs that immediately reminded me of my own kin. 

It’s a testament to director and co-writer Michael Showalter and co-writer Chandler Baker that so much about this family is conveyed within five minutes of meeting them in Oh What Fun. It’s in the dialogue and structuring of the relationships we see onscreen.

Too many plots bubble up as the family splits up.

Of course, the cast themselves do just as much, if not more, to fully luxuriate in those awkward pauses and tension. Michelle Pfeiffer, in particular, takes command, proving that, even in Claire’s worst moments, there’s still a steely ballbuster underneath.

Where Oh What Fun loses its luster in its second half. With the family split up and left to figure out their own devices, each individual plot bubble quickly distracts. That’s not to say that these moments aren’t necessary; they are.

The family can’t learn about themselves or see how much Claire does for them without her absence. However, once Claire departs on her own journey, the metaphorical glue keeping everything together falls apart, almost coming across as directionless at times.

A mother’s labor around the holidays is an important, if heavily delivered, theme.

By the time Claire reaches the zenith of her journey, the theming comes out hard with a literal group conversation waxing none-too-subtly about the hard work mothers do. For better or worse, subtlety when it comes to this particular subject doesn’t always work.

However, showing rather than telling—more often than not—goes a long way. Unfortunately, we’re more told than shown the importance of a mother’s work in the latter half of Oh What Fun, and a moment of relatable commiseration loses some of its power. 

Oh What Fun ends with the familiar expectations a film of this type would bring, with everyone equipped with the knowledge needed to realize the film’s lessons. It becomes all the more noticeable how much the story and its characters drifted away until the family unit comes back together again.

The fun in Oh What Fun fully never fully earns its place.

By the time the film’s credits roll, it’s even more noticeable that the fun in Oh What Fun never wholly earns its place, with many of the fun elements feeling more forced than natural. Instead, what Oh What Fun excels at most is its handling of a chaotic family unit held together by the sheer will and grace of God, through its matriarch, Claire.

The family shines in its realistic clashing and awkwardness in Oh What Fun’s first half in a way that will resonate with many. But what the first half builds up underwhelms in a less-than-successful second half, making what should be a fun journey into something spoon-fed.

Oh What Fun will stream globally exclusively on Prime Video December 3, 2025.

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