Culture Interviews Cinema & Tv

“The most fundamental basic human instinct is protecting our families”: An interview with Dan Mazer on Home Sweet Home Alone

“The most fundamental basic human instinct is protecting our families”: An interview with Dan Mazer on Home Sweet Home Alone

Home Sweet Home Alone is the 2021 reboot of the iconic Christmas movie Home Alone. At the helm is Borat co-writer Dan Mazer, who has flipped around the concept of the original film to make a pair of adults – a married couple in dire financial straits who need to steal back a valuable heirloom from the house of an irksome kid – the protagonists. The cast features a who’s who of British, Irish and American comics, including Catastrophe’s Rob Delaney and Bridesmaids‘ Ellie Kemper as the would-be house burglars, and the brilliant Aisling Bea (in a slightly misjudged posh English accent) as the frazzled mother at her wits end after realising she’s left her son (wait for it) home alone after rushing off on holiday with extended family. Ostensibly in the Macauley Culkin shoes is Jojo Rabbit breakout star Archie Yates as the slightly obnoxious, but ultimately sweet abandoned boy who must protect his home with anything and everything at his disposal from unwanted intruders.

Inevitably, it cannot quite compete with the charm of the original. But it certainly has a good crack at revisiting the premise through a fresh lens, with plenty of hilarious slapstick physical comedy and cleverly orchestrated old-school booby traps, and a dry, often darkly comic wit running through it, thanks to Mazer’s direction and Saturday Night Live writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell’s script. Plus there’s a lovely smattering of Easter eggs and nods paying homage to the 1990 movie dropped in for fans to enjoy – and of course snowy festive vibes galore.

We had the pleasure of chatting to Mazer about why he was at first reluctant but thought now was the right time to reboot the classic Christmas movie, how he assembled his multi-national cast of comics and some of the highs and lows of shooting the film’s comedy scenes.

Sarah Bradbury

Home Sweet Home Alone is released on Disney+ on 12th November 2021.

Watch the trailer for Home Sweet Home Alone here:

More in Cinema & Tv

Havoc

Mae Trumata

Until Dawn

Mae Trumata

The Friend

Christina Yang

“These are really crazy circumstances and we wanted to make sure that the audience felt bought in”: Michael Cimino and Ella Rubin on Until Dawn

Mae Trumata

Netflix sets global premiere date for crime drama Dept Q, starring Matthew Goode and written by Scott Frank

The editorial unit

I Know What You Did Last Summer returns to UK cinemas with original stars and new cast this July

The editorial unit

Swimming Home

Antonia Georgiou

Cannes Film Festival unveils dual poster honouring A Man and a Woman for 78th Edition

The editorial unit

“It was definitely next level”: Ben Affleck and cast on The Accountant 2

Christina Yang