They’re constantly in flux, causing audience sympathy to eventually wane as we question why we want to see victims of financial hardship get pummeled by a little rich kid. The narrative struggles to assign the power positions of tormenter and victim. And, unlike the original, secondary characters either in Max’s family or the McKenzies’ don’t leave their mark, only serving to pad the run time.

His trials and travails dealing with familial chaos are of a similar hue to the original story by Hughes (who receives a co-screenplay and story by credit), except with rushed, ham-handed character motivations and without any earned emotions. Max also isn’t exactly innocent as he shows no empathy toward others on multiple occasions, practically stealing from a toy donation table, not to mention the item he takes from the McKenzies’ home. Director Dan Mazer and screenwriters Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell bend over backward to needlessly rationalize and continually remind us of the reasons why Jeff and Pam are harassing Max - who, by way of a misunderstanding, thinks the couple are human traffickers out to kidnap him. Yet it’s done no favors in execution, frequently forgetting to be lively, humorous and endearing along the way. Shifting the primary focus from the kid to the adults is certainly an innovative choice. Convoluted and over-explained hijinks ensue as the harried marrieds break into Max’s manse in an attempt to get the family heirloom back.

The timing couldn’t be worse as Max’s mom (Aisling Bea), who’s Tokyo-bound with her extended family, has mistakenly left her son home alone. However, when he goes to look for it, he sees it’s missing and knows just who took it: spoiled 10-year-old relative stranger Max Mercer (Archie Yates), who visited their recent open house. His research reveals there’s one in particular - a lederhosen-clad boy with an upside-down head - that could rescue the family from their financial woes as it’s worth over $200K. After hearing a story of someone who turned their trash into treasure at auction, Jeff remembers his mother’s collection of German antique porcelain dolls stored in their bedroom closet.

New home alone