Every Home Alone Movie Ever, Ranked

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s Christmas season - and that means Christmas movies. Christmas movies are one of the biggest genres of movies - ranging from the high-octane thriller Die Hard (Which is a Christmas movie, by the way) to the fun absurdity of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

And it‘s hard to imagine a movie more synonymous with Christmas than Home Alone. Watched religiously every Christmas season - and even year-round - by many families, the movie is a staple of the genre and the season. The movie’s fun plot, awesome cinematography, reliance on slapstick, and an incredible performance by a young Macaulay Culkin all contribute to the success of the film.

Many people know about the Culkin-starring Home Alone sequel Lost in New York, which has over time become a well-loved sequel. However, less people know about the third, fourth, fifth, and even sixth entries in the franchise. Are these sequels worthy of following up the original film? Let’s see as we rank every single Home Alone movie from worst to best.

6. Home Alone 4

Oh boy. Where to start? Home Alone 4 is easily, without a doubt, the worst entry in the franchise. This movie makes the exact mistake Home Alone 3 so smartly avoided - attempting to create a direct sequel to the treasured first two films. And rather than doing it respectfully, this movie directly tramples and destroys so many things that made the first two films so lightning-in-a-bottle special. First, they replace Macaulay Culkin, whose performance defined those original films, with another child actor with none of the charm. Then, they take the happy marriage of Kevin’s parents in the original movies and get rid of that, abruptly sending them off with a divorcing them. Then, Marv is gone and the main robbers are Harry and his girlfriend - and Harry is reduced from the hard-thinking smart man seen in the first two films to some dumb shmuck (and is recasted as well). We’re all better off pretending this one doesn’t exist.

5. Home Sweet Home Alone

Coming years after The Holiday Heist, this made-for-Disney+ sixth entry in the franchise changes up the formula used in the first five movies - but still fails miserably doing it. By far the worst part of this is the teeth-grindingly annoying main character - not by fault of the actor but by fault of the script. Additionally, the movie is heavily 'Disneyfied,' with the movie attempting to create sympathetic characters out of the robbers, which does nothing but make us hate the main character more. Home Sweet Home Alone is another dark blot in the franchise.

4. Home Alone: The Holiday Heist

This movie is only slightly better than Home Sweet Home Alone. Much like Home Alone 4, this is a direct-to-tv special that never saw a theatrical release. This one is wise enough to avoid the direct-sequel area, but the story that was chosen isn’t much better. A boy and his sister are left alone in their mansion while their parents are away at a holiday party, and a few art thieves break into their house and try to steal some things. This one is slightly boosted by an okay performance by the lead, but it is unfortuanetly still another failure in the Home Alone pantheon.

3. Home Alone 3

Now, we are finally in the section of the list where the movies are enjoyable. This third entry in the franchise is wise enough to create a new story instead of trodding on the masterful original films (Looking at you, Home Alone 4), and the story isn’t bad at all. This movie shows a far more plausible reason than the others for why the kid is home alone - he simply is sick and his parents need to work. The new child actor we have - though not as good as Culkin - is still fun to watch. Miraculously, even in an age where traps using technology are right there, this movie’s traps stay true to their slapstick roots. While it is definitively flawed, this movie is still a good watch. Also, this movie has a young Scarlett Johansson starring as the main character’s sister!

2. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Now, we enter into the territory of true Christmas classics. This sequel takes a lot of the things that made the first movie great and recreates them just the same - even including an arguably better home invasion sequence. Watching Kevin parade around New York spending all of his father’s money - including a Donald Trump cameo - is a joy to watch, and the people that fill Kevin’s New York are interesting, like Duncan from Duncan’s Toy Chest and the pigeon lady in Central Park. And of course, this movie brings back our iconic Wet Bandits - now the Sticky Bandits - which of course, make the movie much better. This movie does lose a few points for being almost a carbon copy of the original, but it is still an amazing sequel.

1. Home Alone

There’s a reason why this is one of the most iconic Christmas movies ever made. This movie pulls everything off easily, from the incredible opening sequence that perfectly emulates hectic holiday travel all the way to the end. The iconic home invasion sequence in this movie is some of the most purely funny television that you can find, with some of the best slapstick comedy out there. Macaulay Culkin is amazing as Kevin, and the movie is all tied down by John Williams and his incredible score. All of this makes this film an immensely rewatchable holiday classic.