Home Alone - Plot

Plot

The McCallister family prepares to spend Christmas in Paris, gathering at the home of Peter and Kate McCallister (John Heard and Catherine O'Hara) in a suburb of Chicago the night before their flight. Eight-year-old Kevin (Macauley Culkin), their youngest son, finds himself the subject of ridicule from his siblings and cousins. After getting into an argument with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray), he is sent to the third floor bedroom of the house, where he wishes his family would disappear. During the night, a power outage resets the alarm clocks and causes the family to oversleep. In the confusion and rush to reach the airport on time, Kevin is left behind and the family does not realize it until they are already airborne. Once in Paris, his mother and father desperately try to book a flight home to get Kevin. Unfortunately, they learn that all flights to the USA are completely booked for the next 2 days. Kate refuses to leave the Paris airport unless it's on an airplane. The clerks put Kate on standby for any possible seat to the USA that opens up. The rest of the family go to Peter and Frank's brother, Rob's apartment in Paris.

Meanwhile, Kevin wakes up to find the house empty and is overjoyed to find that his wish came true. He practices shooting with Buzz's BB gun, jumps on the bed, watches a gangster film, and eats a large serving of junk food, but in the process accidentally wrecks Buzz's room. However, he finds himself frightened by the appearance of the Chicago Police Department called by his parents to check on him; his next door neighbor "Old Man" Marley (Roberts Blossom), who was rumored to have murdered his family many years earlier; and the appearance of The Wet Bandits, Harry Lyme and Marv Merchants (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), who are breaking into other vacant houses on the block.

A seat to the USA finally opens up and Kate gets on it, determined to get home to Kevin. Kate ends up in Scranton, PA. She tries to book a flight to Chicago but is told that all flights to Chicago are completely booked until tomorrow afternoon. Kate can't wait that long and says she's going to get home to her son, no matter what it takes. Just then, a polka player named Gus Polinski(John Candy) who is the lead member of a traveling polka band tells Kate that he can help her. Gus and his band are on their way to Milwaukee for a gig but have to drive because their flight has been cancelled and say that they'd be glad to drive her home to Chicago since it's on the way to Milwaukee. Kate happily accepts.

On Christmas Eve, Kevin overhears Harry and Marv discussing plans for breaking into his house that night. After conversing with a Santa Claus impersonator (Ken Hudson Campbell) and watching a local choir perform in a church, he comes across Marley. The two of them talk, and he learns that Marley is in fact a very nice man and the rumors about him are not true. He tells Kevin he is watching the choir because his granddaughter is in it, and he never gets to see her because he and his son have not spoken in years after a big argument they had. Kevin advises him to reconcile with his son.

After leaving the church, Kevin heads home and sets up various booby traps inside the house. Harry and Marv break in. After the two spring every trap in the house, Kevin flees to the second floor of the house and dials 9-1-1. They chase him out of the house and he flees to the vacant neighboring home. The Wet Bandits catch him when he runs to the top of the stairs and hang him on a coat hook on the door. Marley sneaks up behind them and knocks them out with a snow shovel and takes Kevin home. Shortly after, Harry and Marv are arrested.

Kevin wakes up the next morning and is disappointed to see that his family is still gone. He then hears Kate enter the house, calling for him. He goes downstairs and the two of them meet and reconcile. Immediately after, the rest of the McCallisters, having traveled directly from Paris to Chicago, arrive. Kevin keeps silent about his encounter with Harry and Marv, although Peter finds Harry's missing gold tooth and wonders what it is. Kevin and Buzz have a moment of reconciliation. He then goes over to the window and sees Marley greeting his son and his family. As he is hugging his granddaughter, he looks up to see Kevin. He waves at him and Kevin waves back, smiling. He watches as Marley heads inside with his family. Buzz interrupts him by calling out, "Kevin, what did you do to my room?", at which point Kevin runs off and the film ends.