Fans notice blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in Home Alone decades later which reveals why Kevin was left behind

For years people watching Home Alone have asked the same question: “Wait, how on earth do they leave a whole child behind when they leave for the airport?!”

Fans of the 1990 festive classic have been wondering why for years and now, whether it's because of the advent of the internet revealing what people maybe have already known or just because streaming allows us to interrogate more closely, it’s been revealed why.

Two separate hidden details found in the film have revealed the reason why Kevin McAllister, played by Macaulay Culkin, is left behind.

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin in Home Alone (20th Century Studios)

Both were noticed in the subreddit for r/moviedetails, which is a hotbed for people infinitely more perceptive than me noticing secret little bits in films.

Personally, I just always thought it was the family's complete incompetence and a lack of care about Kevin that led to it, but the two posts have pointed out two moments that contributed to him being left behind.

The first explains what happened to Kevin’s plane ticket in the film.

The post was titled: “Ever wonder what happened to Kevin's plane ticket in Home Alone?” and the video shows how, after the fight in which Kevin and Buzz knock over drinks over passports, Kevin’s dad Peter picks up all the paper towels that have been soaked and throws them in the bin. Take a look:

Yes, in the process, Peter picks up a plane ticket labelled ‘Kevin’ and throws it in the bin.

The blink and you’ll miss it moment shows why, when looking through all the tickets for a final check as they leave for the airport, they don’t notice they don’t have Kevins.

Secondly, another post says: “In Home Alone (1990) when they counted the people for the trip they say there's 17 people in total. An odd number between two vans means they will be split 8/9.

“Since Kevin was missing both vans had 8 people instead, making each group assume they were on the 8-people van, not suspecting a thing.”

Fans were shocked at the realisation which seems to have unlocked one of the film’s core questions decades.

The kids in Home Alone being counted (20th Century Studios)

One comment on the first post pointed out another detail that contributes, saying: “This along with the power going out which explains why their alarms didn't go off are nice, small details I never noticed until some 20 years later.”

A comment on the second read: “This is a fun detail just because the writer (John Hughes) was extremely worried about having a bulletproof plot to answer ALL questions of but how did they forget Kevin? with reasonable explanations.

Just fun that he covered tracks I haven't even picked up on”.

And another said: “I like that people are arguing over this. The point was that the mistake was believable. The other details don't change this fact.”