In Oh. What. Fun., Christmas is not just a holiday. It is a pressure cooker.
The Amazon MGM Studios holiday comedy, directed by Michael Showalter, takes a familiar idea and pushes it just far enough to feel fresh. What happens when the person holding everything together finally decides she’s done?
Michelle Pfeiffer leads the film as Claire Clauster, a mother who spends the entire year planning the perfect Christmas for her family, only to realize that no one seems to notice. When her efforts go unappreciated, she does something unexpected. She leaves.
What follows is a chaotic unraveling on both sides. Claire sets off on her own strange, impulsive journey, while back home, her family is left to deal with the reality of what happens when the glue disappears.
I sat down with Chloë Grace Moretz and Dominic Sessa, who play two of Claire’s children, to talk about stepping into that world, the shifting dynamics of family during the holidays, and how a story like this manages to feel both heightened and uncomfortably real.
When the Holiday Spirit Cracks
At its core, Oh. What. Fun. works because it taps into something instantly recognizable.
Everyone knows what the “perfect holiday” is supposed to look like. The decorations. The traditions. The expectations.
And everyone, at some point, has seen what happens when that image starts to crack.
The film leans into that tension. It takes the familiar chaos of family gatherings and pushes it just a little further, letting moments spiral into something bigger, funnier, and sometimes more revealing than expected.
That balance between comedy and reality is what gives the film its edge.
Growing Up in a Changing Industry
Our conversation started in a different place.
I asked Moretz about the evolution of the industry, having started her career in a time dominated by theatrical releases and traditional media, compared to today’s streaming-driven landscape.
For her, the difference is not subtle.
She spoke about the shift in pace, moving from shooting on film with more time to build something, to an era where everything can feel faster and more compressed. One word she kept coming back to was “content,” and how that mindset can sometimes take away from the process.
That is what made this project stand out to her.
She described Oh. What. Fun. as a rare experience where time was actually given to the film. A longer shoot, a more intentional process, and a team that treated it like something worth building, not just something to finish.
You can feel that in the final product. Even in its chaos, there is structure. Even in its comedy, there is intention.
What Success Actually Looks Like
For Dominic Sessa, the conversation shifted toward what it means to enter the industry today.
There is no longer one clear path. No single blueprint to follow.
His answer was simple.
Work with people you like.
It sounds obvious, but it is not something people always prioritize. For Sessa, success is not just about the project itself. It is about the environment you create while making it.
If you enjoy the people you are working with, that becomes its own version of success.
It is a perspective that feels especially relevant for a film like this, one that relies so heavily on ensemble energy and chemistry.
Finding the Humor in the Mess
Even within a story built on frustration and miscommunication, humor plays a central role.
That is where the film finds its rhythm.
The characters are flawed. They interrupt each other, misunderstand each other, and occasionally make everything worse. But that is also what makes them feel real.
The comedy does not come from perfection. It comes from the mess.
And that mess feels familiar.
A Holiday Story That Feels Lived In
What Oh. What. Fun. ultimately understands is that the holidays are not just about celebration. They are about expectation.
They are about the roles people fall into. The traditions they feel obligated to maintain. The quiet frustrations that build over time.
By pushing those ideas to their limit, the film finds something honest underneath the chaos.
And talking with Moretz and Sessa, that same awareness comes through.
There is a clear understanding of what the film is doing and why it works. It is not trying to present a perfect version of family. It is showing what happens when that version falls apart.
Controlled Chaos
By the end of the conversation, one thing stood out.
This is a film that embraces chaos, but it does it with purpose.
It knows exactly how far to push its characters. It knows when to let things spiral and when to pull them back. And most importantly, it understands that underneath all the noise, there has to be something real.
Because no matter how messy things get, the reason these stories work is simple.
They feel familiar.
And sometimes, that is more than enough.
