“Oh. What. Fun.” finally gives moms their Christmas due

Every holiday season, my mom likes to remind me of how much of a brat I could be during Christmastime when I was a kid. I was not spoiled, but I was greedy. My Christmas lists consisted of detailed product descriptions, prices and names of the stores where these gifts could be purchased. My idea of being extra nice and helpful around the holidays was mocking up a digital version of the wishlist, complete with hyperlinks, in case that made shopping any easier. Once the list had been passed off to my parents, I took care to remind them of how many shopping days were left — you know, in case they happened to forget amidst all of the school Christmas programs, homework help, meal prep, holiday event coordination and their own lives and careers. Admittedly, I was a terror, a pint-sized Krampus there to make the holidays that much more of a hassle.

In Michael Showalter’s new Prime Video Christmas film, “Oh. What. Fun.,” Michelle Pfeiffer’s exhausted mom, Claire, is similarly insistent, though for a far better reason. Even though her kids, Channing (Felicity Jones), Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Sammy (Dominic Sessa), are all grown and out of the house, Claire makes it her priority to give all of them a perfect Christmas, with little help from her husband, Nick (Denis Leary). After so many idyllic Christmases, Claire has been dropping hints that she wants to be entered into a seasonal competition sponsored by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria), an Ellen DeGeneres-like talk show host whose Holiday Mom contest is entering its fifth year. There’s just one catch: A mom must be entered into the contest by her children. And despite texts, emails and verbal reminders, none of Claire’s children have paid attention to the one thing she wants for Christmas.

The star-studded “Oh. What. Fun.” is not remotely covert about its intentions. This is a film designed specifically for moms who need to unwind with a glass of wine or a mug of cocoa during the holidays, accompanied by a movie that understands their plight. “Where are the holiday movies about moms?” Claire says in the film’s opening scene. “I can name a dozen about men, easy.”

It’s true: Other than “The Family Stone,” most Christmas movies are about dads, kids, perennially single, big city businesswomen who must return home to save the family ranch, or genderless Grinchfolk. Even in classic films about family Christmases like “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Beverly D’Angelo’s stay-at-home mom is an afterthought, even if she’s the glue holding her family together while her husband’s antics tear them apart. For just how overworked and underappreciated mothers are during the holidays and year-round, they deserve to be celebrated, and Showalter’s sweet (if narratively spare) film is the ideal present for any mom who needs a little more recognition.

Kicking off “Oh. What. Fun.” with Pfeiffer listing mainstream, big-budget theatrical Christmas movies written about men or Muppets is telling. Like all good holiday films, “Oh. What. Fun.” wears its heart on its sleeve, and Showalter and co-writer Chandler Baker — who wrote the short story the film is based on — keenly understand that even the most sappy, predictable Christmas movies have an emotional tether. There’s power in seeing our experiences reflected on-screen, and films about a time as hyper-sentimental as Christmas have even more poignant sway.

And still, there are only a handful of holiday movies that are specifically about mothers and motherhood. It would be shocking that this large market has been overlooked for so long if it weren’t for the fact that contemporary Christmas movies about women are almost entirely relegated to streaming status. Each year, dozens of new holiday films starring and aimed toward women are dumped onto Netflix, Hulu and, yes, even Prime Video. Meanwhile, Christmas films with men in leading roles are far more likely to get a theatrical release, even if they’re as insipid as last year’s “Red One.” (Though, 2017’s “A Bad Moms Christmas” is a notable outlier here, targeting both women and mothers alike.)

(Alisha Wetherill/Prime) Michelle Pfeiffer as Claire Clauster in “Oh. What. Fun.”

There’s an unfortunate irony to the fact that “Oh. What. Fun.” is a Prime Video original despite the slew of recognizable names in its cast. This is a sweet film about how moms and women are undervalued during the holidays, starring one of the finest actresses of our time, and yet, it’s still debuting on a streaming service. But Showalter’s movie is charming enough to disregard that detail, at least for most of its runtime. Pfeiffer’s Texan matriarch is a delight to watch as she flits about her house, decking the halls with warm, multicolored lights and seasonal throw pillows. Thankfully, there’s no skimping on production design to be found here. Claire’s home feels genuinely inviting, with her adorable lawn inflatables sitting in stark contrast to her neighbor Jeanne’s (Joan Chen) more elegantly decorated yard, laying the groundwork for an amusing cul-de-sac rivalry subplot.

But Claire’s joyful anticipation fades quickly when her children arrive. They’re more self-centered than ever, so caught up in their careers and love lives that they neglect to make much time for their mom, let alone appreciate how much work she’s put into planning their family holiday. Claire’s disappointment that they’ve all forgotten to enter her in the Holiday Mom contest is one thing; she can get over it with a little well-deserved moping, and Pfeiffer is wonderful when she straddles the line between her character’s sadness and a mother’s eternal love for her kids. But when they forget her at home on the way to a family event that she painstakingly planned, it’s no more Mrs. Nice Mom. In a split second, Claire picks up, gets in her car, and heads for the highway, leaving her family in the dust.

(Alisha Wetherill/Prime) Felicity Jones as Channing Clauster and Jason Schwartzman as Doug in “Oh. What. Fun.”

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Though most of the film is spent building up to this fissure, “Oh. What. Fun.” stumbles when Claire and her family separate. The extent of Claire’s frustration is clear, but never quite taken to the comedic lengths it should be, especially with an actor as committed as Pfeiffer leading the show. Showalter and Baker’s writing keeps Claire far more reserved than she needs to be, taking her motherly benevolence with her wherever she goes, despite the fact that Claire is rightfully upset once she hits the road. But as soon as Claire does something a little wilder than drink a whole bottle of wine alone while eating Christmas bark, and ends up on the Zazzy Tims show in time for the Holiday Mom contest, the film mostly regains its footing.

Showalter has long had a knack for deceptive gut punches. In previous films “The Big Sick” and “Spoiler Alert,” the writer-director managed to tee up more than a few last-minute emotional crescendos. And in “Oh. What. Fun.,” things are no different, with a mother-daughter heart-to-heart between Pfeiffer and Jones that quickly digs to the nitty-gritty and goes to the place so many families try to avoid during the holiday season in an effort to keep the peace. When Claire and Channing finally stop dancing around their annoyances and holding their tongues, the two reunite in a brief but beautifully sincere moment that ties the whole film together, making it apparent that this is what Showalter was heading toward all along. “Oh. What. Fun.” isn’t so much about what we need from our families as it is how we ask for it, making sure to give each other grace for our slip-ups along the way. “Oh. What. Fun.” may not be a perfect film, but it’s just right for anyone who turns into a needy terror around the holidays, whether they realize it or not.