Michael Showalter’s ‘Oh. What. Fun.’ is a dysfunctional family drama wrapped in the package of a holiday film. It’s one of those early December releases that taps into our longing for a festive mood as we approach the end-of-year celebrations. There’s a specific structure to these Christmas-themed projects that you can easily pick apart if you have seen enough of them. These movies tend to be sentimental, desperately trying to tug at our heartstrings. Some find depth even in its predictable patterns, and leave us with more than the promise of a saccharine ending. Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ is one such fine example that marries the old-world charm of festive dramedies with emotional complexity. Showalter’s film doesn’t quite reach that level. It still offers a good holiday cheer, thanks to its reliable ensemble of actors and some well-timed humor that makes you want to overlook a few cliches and occasional cringeworthy moments.
Spoilers Ahead
Oh. What. Fun. (2025) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
‘Oh. What. Fun.’ follows a suburban mother exhausted by the endless Christmas preparations, deciding to leave her family behind on Christmas Eve, thus making them reevaluate the way they treat her.
What happens in Oh. What. Fun.?
Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer), the suburban mother, stays cooped up in her own little world at her home in Texas. She remains busy preparing for the Christmas celebrations while her husband, Nick (Denis Leary), spends all his time building a playhouse. Their children are about to return home in a few days, and they clearly want to show how much they love them. Yet, while they both care, one is expected to take on far more responsibilities than the other. As a mother, Claire is burdened with the duties of baking what they love, picking their gifts, and much more. Her life is reduced to her maternal instincts. No one cares for what she thinks or feels. They just want things to go as smoothly as they always have, without acknowledging her hand in making that happen.
Chandler Baker and Michael Showalter’s script explores her dissatisfaction, which leads her to leave home on Christmas Eve. Before that, it takes us briefly through the lives of her family and their interpersonal dynamic. Channing (Felicity Jones), her oldest daughter, is married to Doug (Jason Schwartzman) with two kids. She is a published writer, while he is a classic nice guy, desperate for everyone’s approval. That desperation doesn’t bode well with Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz), the middle sibling, who can’t stand him. Every year, she arrives home with a different partner. This time, it’s Donna (Devery Jacobs). The family treats her as merrily as they do everyone else, not letting her get a hint of Taylor’s dating pattern.
Taylor is not the only one with relationship troubles. Sammy (Dominic Sessa) joins them as a newly single man after being dumped by Mae-Bell (Maude Apatow), his ex-girlfriend, whom he considered his soulmate. They all seek shelter in Claire’s labor while either ignoring or looking down on the things that she shows interest in.
Claire’s Day Out
Claire loves a reality TV show hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). So, on Christmas, she hopes to meet Zazzy in her studio. She can make that happen through a lottery competition between mothers across the world. However, one of her family members needs to nominate her for this prize. None of them do it, which sorely disappoints her. If not that, her source of validation is her friendly rivalry with her neighbor, Jeanne (Joan Chen). Every year, they try to one-up each other with their plans for the Christmas celebration. In line with this tradition, Jeanne arrives at Claire’s doorstep with a beautiful gift for Christmas Eve.
Claire doesn’t give anything in return since she worries her gift might pale in comparison. She heads to a local mall with Channing to buy a better gift. Out of nowhere, Channing tells her plan: she wants to start her own Christmas tradition with her family. It upsets Claire so much that she impulsively steals something from the mall, hoping to use it as a return gift for Jeannne. Still, at the last minute, she chooses something else since she doesn’t want to give a stolen gift. By the time she returns home, her family drives away for an event she specifically planned for them, only to be left behind. No one remembers they forgot her until it’s too late. They return home to realize that Claire is long gone.
Claire leaves home and drives to a local motel. Since it’s Christmas, she is forced to share a room with Morgan (Danielle Brooks), a delivery partner, also looking for a place to crash for the night. Morgan can’t fall asleep without the TV playing in the background. Claire, who can’t sleep in its noise, reluctantly walks to her car to get some sleep. To make matters worse, her car gets towed, which leaves her with no other mode of travel. So, she buys a decrepit car from the motel manager and makes another plan on a whim.
Oh. What. Fun. (2025) Movie Ending Explained:
Claire drives up to California to be present at the Zazzy Tims show’s recording. In her absence, the family struggles with each other’s company. Channing and Taylor argue about their relationship patterns, forcing Doug to be a mediator. It annoys Taylor, who criticizes his dullness. He pities himself since he is only trying to be her friend, but she keeps making it difficult despite his earnest intent. Somehow, Sammy gets involved in these arguments, criticizing Channing’s writing, calling her books overlong and her written dialogues wooden. In response, he gets scrutinized for being a man-child, still relying on his mother’s constant coddling.
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During these arguments, Doug blurts out that Taylor brought another girl to her room while Donna was out. Hearing that, Donna leaves Taylor immediately. Sammy goes to a local bar for a drink to clear his mind. There, he meets Lizzie (Havana Rose Liu), one of Joan’s daughters, with whom he went to school but rarely spoke. They reminisce about their childhoods and dance like no one’s watching. The next morning, he ends up on her couch, unsure how he got there. She reveals she walked him back home since he couldn’t by himself. After finding him, the family notices Claire being present at Zazzy’s live TV show, where Claire’s dance moves catch everyone’s attention.
When invited by Zazzy to speak, Claire reveals the truth about her situation. None of her family members nominated her and forgot her while driving to a local event. Soon, Zazzy brings her to her office and reveals why she started the show. She wanted to offer mothers a spotlight that their ungrateful family may never offer them.
How does Claire’s absence reshape the family dynamic?
Claire’s absence makes all her family members acknowledge that they kept taking her for granted. Channing tries to fill the gap as a motherly presence, but to no avail. Soon, they get invited to the show’s next taping, where they surprise Claire with their presence. It looks like a heartwarming moment for the TV audience, but that doesn’t mean Claire forgives her family. Channing apologizes to her for blurting out her desire to start her own Christmas tradition rather than discussing it slowly, over time. Then, she also shares her grievances about Claire treating her less than her siblings. Claire reveals the reason beyond her panic: she needed the kids to need her. If Channing doesn’t return home every other year for Christmas, she would be deprived of it. Anyhow, they reconcile.
Otherwise, Sammy gets a surprise as Mae-Bell arrives at the studio, hoping to get back into a relationship with him. By then, he had already started catching feelings for Lizzie and felt hopeful about that relationship. So, he rejects Mae-Bell’s proposal. Taylor also reconciles with Doug. A year later, they all get together for Channing’s new Christmas tradition of a skiing trip. Lizzie joins Sammy, which also brings Jeanne and her whole family there. In the end, Claire and Channing find a common ground in what they seek from Christmas. Instead of following a tradition for the sake of it, they invent a new tradition that can work for both.
Oh. What. Fun. (2025) Movie Review:
‘Oh. What. Fun.’ is a Holiday movie filled with all you would expect from this genre. It wants to make you feel warm and cozy, seeing a family getting back together for Christmas. So, you get your red-and-green color coding with brightly lit frames, reflective of holiday cheer. The title, however, is not all sweet and bright. Instead, it seems like a gibe from a mother, exhausted by her unappreciated labor. Through her, the script taps into a collective guilt of taking mothers for granted, especially during this time of the year.
Everyone relies on her for what they want without caring about her interests or emotional needs. That’s why you almost wait for her Toni Collette-like monologue when she would explode in anger, making everyone realise that ‘she is their mother!’ We don’t get that moment of eruption. Instead, we see her leaving them behind, letting them introspect upon their relationship. The film still conveys the intensity of her frustration, thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance, who quietly reveals Claire’s anger despite her awkwardness.
Felicity Jones becomes another dramatic strong point of the movie, while Dominic Sessa becomes a comedic strong point despite Sammy not being a usual comic relief. Overall, it’s the cast that would make you want to sit around till the end, if not the resonance of its central theme of motherhood. Pfeiffer ensures that we would feel deeply for Claire, as she seeks her freedom from this domestic trap while seeking the fun, festive spirit. She, however, can’t save the movie from rising above its set of cliches or underdeveloped characters.
The most entertaining arc is Sammy’s, predictable but backed by well-performed, refreshing humor. Otherwise, the film does a disservice to skilled actors like Danielle Brooks, Devery Jacobs, and Joan Chen, reducing them to cliches or to being fly-on-the-wall characters. Brooks’ delivery-partner character could have led to some deeper conversation about underappreciated labor, and Jacobs’ character could have helped flesh out Taylor’s commitment issues. Instead, we get a predictable and run-of-the-mill happy ending that doesn’t convincingly resolve any of their conflicts, using sappiness to mask the script’s shortcomings.
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