Movie Review: A Bad Moms Christmas

FIRST with Daddy's Home 2, and now A Bad Moms Christmas, it feels like Hollywood is trying to highlight the notion that no matter how hard you try, you still end up taking more after your parents than you'd like.
The film follows Amy (Kunis), Kiki (Bell), and Carla (Hahn) the three moms viewers came to resonate with in the 2016 Bad Moms, during one of the busiest time of the year for parents – in this case, the mothers – where they attempt to provide the best Christmas for their children.
The moms face the added pressure of preparing for a perfect Christmas when their own mothers pay a visit during the holidays.
Amy's mother, Ruth (Christine Baranski), who has a posh and seemingly faultless exterior, constantly pushes her into doing over-the-top and extravagant holiday preparations, despite her pleas for a laidback family holiday.
Sandy (Cheryl Hines), Kiki's mom, takes their mother-daughter relationship to a whole new level, by being too attached – even wearing clothes plastered with Sandy's image – causing friction in her daughter's marriage.
Meanwhile, fun-loving Carla and her even more energetic mother, Isis (Susan Sarandon), share an unconventional rock and roll-tinged approach to parenting, with the latter preferring life on the road to a typical motherly role.
Being a parent is tough, but being a mom is arguably tougher due to the outdated patriarchy system that requires mothers to exhibit a checklist of roles and responsibilities, in fear of being labelled 'bad', where the ridiculous standards are otherwise not applicable to fathers.
A Bad Moms Christmas tries to inject humour while trying to explore the intricate mother-daughter relationship through its characters, who are themselves trying to be a good parent.
However, the film falls a little short at being perfect, due to a predictable plot.
Although the all-star cast performed well, especially Hahn's colourful character, the film is a tad underwhelming, considering the success of the previous movie.