Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)
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A young boy must defend his new home from a group of thieves seeking a stolen masterpiece.
The story
The Baxter family moves from California to Rockland, Maine, during the Christmas season. Ten-year-old Finn and his older sister Alexis are tech-obsessed children who isolate themselves from their parents. After Finn learns a local legend about a haunted house, he becomes paranoid. While the parents are out shopping, a group of thieves attempts to break into the home to steal a valuable painting. The thieves flee when they find the house occupied. Later, the parents leave for a party, leaving the siblings behind. The thieves plan to return, unaware that Finn and Alexis have discovered a secret room containing the painting.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The Baxter family moves to Rockland, Maine, where ten-year-old Finn and his sister Alexis isolate themselves with technology. After Finn hears a ghost story about the house, he becomes paranoid. While the parents are shopping, thieves try to steal an $85 million painting but flee. Later, the parents leave for a party, leaving the kids home. The thieves return, but Finn and Alexis discover the painting in a secret room. Alexis gets trapped in the room. Finn goes to a hardware store for supplies and overhears the thieves' plans. He sets up booby traps around the house. The thieves are injured by the traps. The parents are warned by Finn's online friend, Simon, but they call the police on him. The thieves capture Finn, but the neighbor Mason saves him by throwing snowballs at the thieves. Finn frees Alexis, trapping the thieves in the basement. The police arrive and arrest the intruders. The family is rewarded with museum passes and $30,000. Finn decides to spend time with his new friend Mason.
- Original title
- Home Alone: Alone in the Dark
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Peter Hewitt
- Writers
- Aaron Ginsburg · writer; Wade McIntyre · writer
- Cast and characters
- Christian Martyn; Eddie Steeples; Jodelle Ferland; Doug Murray; Ellie Harvie; Debi Mazar; Malcolm McDowell
- Genres
- Christmas comedy film
- Themes
- Sibling dynamics; Technology isolation; Home defense
- Tone and mood
- Slapstick; Comedy
- Setting
- Rockland, Maine during the Christmas season
- Premise and plot tags
- Christmas; Home Invasion; Comedy; Family
- Franchise connections
- Home Alone
- Reception
- The film received mainly negative reviews, though it was noted to be better than the previous installment.
- Reported review scores
- Common Sense Media · score: 2 · scale: 5
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled Home Alone: Alone in the Dark.; It was filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.; It is the second film after Home Alone 3 not to focus on the McCallister family.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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