Home Alone has been a favorite movie of mine ever since I was six years old and I saw it for the first time on Christmas Eve. The wacky traps and dream of having no parents at home always appealed to me, as it would for every other kid, but how does all this stand up in 2018, twenty-eight years after the film was released? Well it’s still a classic, is it not?

The movie’s plot is simple but efficient. In Home Alone, Kevin, the main character, is an 8 year old boy is left behind accidentally when his entire family rushes to the airport for their flight to Paris. While the child is home alone, two robbers, Marv and Harry, plan to rob the house. Kevin must defend his house from the robbers by crafting and using elaborate traps and tricks such as the ornaments under the window or the BB gun through the doggie door. An 8 year old with this knowledge is honestly scary if you think of it outside the movie!

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, the sequel, has a somewhat similar story. This time, Kevin makes it to the airport with his family but has a mix-up and gets on the wrong plane. While his family is headed to the warm, tropical sunshine state of Florida, Kevin is en route to the cold, snowy Big Apple where he impersonates his dad to stay at a hotel and eventually encounters the same robbers again but now uses new and witty ways to teach them a lesson.

I can’t imagine Home Alone without the Christmas setting. The snow and Christmas decorations and backdrop of the film bring the lighthearted fun to it that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. A scene that always stuck with me was the Cathedral scene with Old Man Marley where the importance of family and forgiveness, two of Christmas’s most important values, are taught to Kevin and the viewers.

Home Alone grossed over $533,800,000, making it the second highest grossing comedy in the world under Ghostbusters. It was one of the most watched Christmas films of its time and it will continue to be one of the most iconic Christmas films of all time as it is played during the holiday season in homes worldwide.