A Bad Moms Christmas’ heart is in the right place. Moms do deserve a break during the holidays, and the naughty maternal trinity—newly divorced Amy (Mila Kunis), kooky Kiki (Kristen Bell) and wild card Carla (Kathryn Hahn)—return to take back Christmas. However, the holiday stresses are tripled when the bad moms’ bad moms arrive. 

Amy’s mother, Ruth (Christine Baranski), is a ruthless tyrant who will have her holiday plans carried out to the letter; Kiki’s mother, Sandy (Cheryl Hines), is nuttier than she is and has a penchant for clothing decorated with her daughter’s photos; and Carla’s bad mama, Isis (Susan Sarandon), is a former REO Speedwagon roadie (a pretty weak joke even for this flick) and unrepentant gambler. Happy holidays! 

Outside of its central concept and fun stunt casting, A Bad Moms Christmas shows even less zip than its predecessor. The moments with the trio of leading ladies that highlighted the first movie feel forced or simply do not exist in the sequel. The strength this time around is the individual moments with each mother and her mother. While Baranski, as Amy’s particularly prickly beast of a mom who thinks a five-hour Russian Nutcracker is magical Christmas entertainment, pushes everyone to up their game, no one can keep up except Bell, whose comic dexterity benefits from a more confident Kiki. Hahn may be the funniest of the bunch, but Carla’s raunch is more routine than riotous, a description rather fitting for the movie itself. This rather bland holiday treat is unlikely to be trotted out as a new annual tradition.