Home Alone grossed $285.8 million in the United States and Canada and $190.9 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $476.7 million, against a production budget of $18 million.[2] In its opening weekend, Home Alone grossed $17 million from 1,202 theaters, averaging $14,211 per site and just 6% of the final total and added screens over the next six weeks, with a peak screen count of 2,174 during its eighth weekend at the start of January 1991.[44]
Home Alone was the number-one film at the box office for 12 consecutive weeks, from its release weekend of November 16–18, 1990 through the weekend of February 1–3, 1991.[45][44] It was removed from the top spot when Sleeping with the Enemy opened with $13 million.[44] It remained in the top ten until the weekend of April 26, well past Easter weekend. It made two more appearances in the top ten (the weekend of May 31 – June 2 and the weekend of June 14–16) before finally falling out of the top ten.[46] After over nine months into its run, the film had earned 16x its debut weekend and ended up making a final gross of $285,761,243, the top-grossing film of its year in North America.[47] The film is listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-grossing live-action comedy ever[48] and held the record until it was overtaken by The Hangover Part II in 2011.[49]
By the time the film had run its course in theaters, Home Alone was the third-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, as well as in the United States and Canada behind only Star Wars ($322 million at the time) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($399 million at the time), according to the home video box. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 67.7 million tickets in the United States.[2] It was also the highest-grossing Christmas film until it was surpassed by Dr. Seuss' The Grinch in 2018.[50][51] The film made Culkin a child star.[52]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Home Alone holds an approval rating of 66% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Home Alone's uneven but frequently funny premise stretched unreasonably thin is buoyed by Macaulay Culkin's cute performance and strong supporting stars."[5] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[54]
Variety magazine praised the film for its cast.[55] Jeanne Cooper of The Washington Post praised the film for its comedic approach.[56] Hal Hinson, also of The Washington Post, praised Columbus' direction and Culkin's performance.[57] Although Caryn James of The New York Times complained that the film's first half is "flat and unsurprising as its cute little premise suggests", she praised the second half for its slapstick humor. She also praised the dialogue between Kevin and Marley, as well as the film's final scenes.[58] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 2+1⁄2 out of a 4-star rating and 2 thumbs down. He compared the elaborate booby-traps in the film to Rube Goldberg machines, writing "they're the kinds of traps that any 8-year-old could devise, if he had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars and the assistance of a crew of movie special effects people" and criticized the plot as "so implausible that it makes it hard for [him] to really care about the plight of the kid [Kevin]". However, he praised Culkin's performance.[59]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave the film a "D" grade, criticizing the film for its "sadistic festival of adult-bashing". Gleiberman said that "[John] Hughes is pulling our strings as though he'd never learn to do anything else".[60] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three out of five and praised Culkin's "vivid screen presence, almost incandescent with confidence". However, he criticised his acting, calling it "a bit broad and mannered".[52] Ali Barclay of the BBC wrote "Culkin walks a fine line between annoyance and endearment throughout the film." He also called Home Alone "a film which manages to capture some of the best qualities of Christmas".[61]
Naomi Barnwell of Roobla said that "Home Alone has all the ingredients that make for a great kids’ film".[62] Adrian Turner of Radio Times commented "[Home Alone is] a celebration of enterprise that captured the heart and wickedness of every child on the planet."[63] According to TV Guide, "[Home Alone]'s slapstick falls flat and only the pain remains."[64] Marielle Sabbag of Vocal wrote "Everything about [Home Alone] is beautiful and has a realistic quality."[65] Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times criticised the fact that "there is a reason why this film plays better as a trailer than as a full-length film."[66]
Home Alone gradually became a Christmas classic.[67][68][69][70] It was praised for its quotable phrases,[71] morals,[72] traps,[73] and main character.[74] Hannah-Rose Yee of Stylist called the ending "very sweet" and praised the score from John Williams, calling it "fantastic".[75] Christopher Hooton of The Independent also praised the film, calling the film-within-a-film Angels with Filthy Souls "a fond footnote in cinema history".[76] Matt Talbot from Simcoe.com said that the Wet Bandits were "fantastic" and "never [got] old" on "repeat viewings".[77] Michael Walsh of Nerdist noted the church scene as "One of the best, most touching scenes [in the film]".[78]
Home Alone remains a highly popular Christmas movie in Poland, when it is played on Polsat every Christmas Eve. In 2010, Polsat did not play Home Alone, which caused over 90 thousand people to protest on Facebook.[79] In 2016, over 4,44 milion Poles tuned in to Polsat to watch Home Alone. Since the 2010's it's TV trailers even include a tagline that acknowledges this popularity - "Christmas without him? It's absolutely impossible!".[80]