this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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[–] CorneliusTalmadge@lemmy.world 172 points 1 week ago (3 children)

But the part we always forget is that the robber was the “cop” that had come to the house the night before the trip.

So this kid was like the cops are so corrupt I have to deal with this on my own.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 65 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's a really good point I never thought of.

Is it realistic that he didn't have any other friends / trusted adults in the community?

As a movie though the suspension of disbelief is pretty good. Phone lines are down, neighbors are on vacation too, ...

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago

The McAllister's are rich as hell. All their friends are too. The whole neighborhood went on vacation except that one old guy.

[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 36 points 1 week ago

Didn’t even think of that. You’re right.

[–] MissJinx@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

and that's what we should all learn from him

[–] ccunning@lemmy.world 114 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Didn’t the storm knock the phone lines out? That’s why Moira didn’t call the house and called the cops to try and get them to do a wellness check.

[–] Prox@lemmy.world 77 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes.

This movie is nearly bulletproof. John Hughes thought of every plausible hole and plugged it. He was a genius.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He calls and orders a pizza

[–] fatalicus@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago

Because later the lines get fixed.

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Kevin also didn’t want his parents to get in trouble so he didn’t call the cops

[–] dabaldeagul@feddit.nl 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wasn't he under the impression his parents (and all of his family, really) had ceased to exist?

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

"I made my family disappear." 😈

[–] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 94 points 1 week ago (6 children)

No, he could not call the police. A tree fell on his phone line and disconnected his house.

And his parents did notify the police, but the police were, A: completely incredulous, B: completely incompetent and uninterested. They came and knocked on the door, but Kevin was still scared and confused and was hiding under his parents bed the whole time. The cop just gave up and left.

Source: I watched the movie again... and I am going to do so this year along with a Die Hard trilogy (I never watched the third movie) marathon.

[–] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 25 points 1 week ago

Also one of the robbers scoped out the place disguised as a cop and already spooked him.

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[–] OfficeMonkey@lemmy.today 73 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Kevin is a shop lifter after he panics with the tooth brush. Since he learned never to trust cops, he assumes he'd get thrown in jail like the hardened criminal he is... And then there's the cop who's trying to break into his house. Yeah, can't blame him for not making that call.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 53 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Yeah, the first movie pretty clearly lays out why he didn’t want to call the cops. Also, IIRC, the snow storm knocked out the phone lines. His parents mention that they can’t get ahold of him because the lines are down. So he couldn’t have called them even if he tried.

The second movie though? He was a predator stalking his prey. He wasn’t just a victim of a break-in. He actively lured them to his twisted funhouse, and didn’t call the cops until the very end when he wanted them to get caught red-handed.

[–] OfficeMonkey@lemmy.today 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He learned what he was good at... And what he enjoyed.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

He has a particular set of skills.

[–] axexrx@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The McAllisters are the family he gets sent to live with after the good son.

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[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 66 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Didn't he not trust the cops because Pesci pretended to be a cop in the opening scene, in order to case the house?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 44 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

He didnt call the police because the phone lines are being worked on in one of the opening scenes before we even see the McCallisters and presumably are down.

His parents couldn't even call home to make sure he was okay.

[–] idogoodjob@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Pretty sure only long distance lines were down. Local calls were still good which is how he ordered the Pizza.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

There’s no difference between those lines at the local level. The only long distance lines would be the oceanic ones.

E: does nobody know how old lines worked? I can’t believe the number of people trying to force some twist to make their version work. The phone repair guy was right there on the residential street. If local lines were down, no in/out calls would work, yet Kevin ordered pizza and called the cops locally. It’s a huge leap to assume that this area would have had a side junction to separate international calls to a different system. Extremely unlikely, and that would probably be a feature reserved for businesses that needed to make such calls regularly. Old lines just weren’t run for international like that on analog runs for regular homes. His family were able to call friends and neighbors from overseas to see if they were home. So those lines weren’t down even if for some bizarre reason they were separate.

It’s just a plot hole. NBD. Enjoy the movie.

E2: digging around on the internet people have pointed out the plot hole. The only scenario where it would work is full of “ifs” that allow international calls in through a separate system, but nonetheless, it would basically only have to affect that one house getting perfectly hit to knock out international but not local by the tree branch yet nearby neighbors get calls on their answering machines from overseas.

I’m not pursuing this further, lol. It’s just entertainment. I’m not going to ruin the fun with over-analysis and bickering over “but if…”

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[–] Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de 52 points 1 week ago (2 children)

"One call and he would've been safe"

By calling the cops? Lol, good joke.

[–] Jerb322@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

CSP would be all over this. He'd be in foster care before his family got back.

"Safe"

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[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 46 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Nah, it's because he knows one fundamental truth: ACAB. Especially the sleezy one with the gold tooth.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 42 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Or he was just too afraid to contact the police. Remember, this took place in the USA, where people have reason to fear them.

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[–] peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 40 points 1 week ago

He did call the police

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 34 points 1 week ago

He couldn't have phoned anyone! The phone line was out!

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 33 points 1 week ago (1 children)

HA1 was in Chicago. CPD is half as corrupt as NYPD

HA2 was in New York. NYPD is half as corrupt as LAPD.

LAPD is corruption incarnate.

Kevin had no other choice. besides he was staying in a hotel with a human trafficker and pedophile, things were already dangerous enough as it was.

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[–] hexdream@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago

This is Kevin now. Feel.old yet?

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 28 points 1 week ago (3 children)

While 911 as an emergency number in the US began in 1968, it wasn't universal until 1999. Home Alone came out in 1990. It was completely normal in my youth (earlier, yes, but still) to just not know what the number to call the police was.

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[–] pyre@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (2 children)

one call [to the police] and he would have been safe

just because it's fiction doesn't mean it's fantasy

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 week ago

And also he couldn't have called anyone, the phone line was out.

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 week ago

Well, he is a white kid in an affluent neighborhood (whole huge family affording vacation, large house), so he probably would have been treated better.

[–] moakley@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

He thinks his family actually disappeared. He remarks that they couldn't have gone to Paris, because their cars are still in the garage. The garage having been left open is even a plot point, to allow Kevin to make this realization quicker.

He does eventually call the police. It's the last step of his plan. He calls them to his neighbor's house.

The movie is seriously bulletproof. Like how Kevin spills Pepsi on his ticket and we see it accidentally get thrown in the garbage the night before.

Fun story:

When my daughter met Santa Claus for the first time, she'd recently seen Home Alone and was obsessed, and she introduced herself as Kevin.

When it was time to take a picture I said, "Ok [daughter's name which in all fairness does have an "ev" sound in it], get in Santa's sleigh."

Then Santa leaned over and whispered, "Ohh. I thought she said her name was Kevin."

"Yeah, no, she did say Kevin."

Santa thought that was weird.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Leviathan is also a beautiful name.

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[–] slaacaa@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] realitista@lemmus.org 16 points 1 week ago (3 children)

He knew the police would likely put him into child protective services due to parental negligence and decided he'd deal with that shit himself.

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[–] crazycraw@crazypeople.online 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

that guys middle name? Macaulay Culkin.

[–] moody@lemmings.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin is his name.

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[–] stinky@redlemmy.com 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

also, don't call the cops unless you have literally no other options.

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