Happiest Season (2020) Movie Review
Who doesn’t love Christmas movies? There are so many classics that I watch every year: White Christmas, The Holiday, Love Actually… I could go on but I’m trying to stay on task which is to review Happiest Season. When there were whispers that a gay Christmas romantic comedy was hitting Hulu this year, I couldn’t wait to see it. I settled into what I thought would be a hilarious Family Stone esque rom com. It turned out my expectations were not exactly on point.
Happiest Season is written and directed by Clea DuVall. If you’re not familiar with DuVall she is insanely hilarious and has a huge portfolio of acting credits including But I’m a Cheerleader and my personal favorite, Veep. Happiest Season begins by introducing us to a happy couple, Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis). While out looking at Christmas lights, Harper invites Abby to come home with her for Christmas. Before leaving, Abby picks up an engagement ring and tells her best friend John (Dan Levy) that she plans on proposing on Christmas. Awww!
So everything is running smoothly until Harper drops a bomb on Abby. Harper’s parents don’t know that she’s gay, so Abby is forced to pretend to be Harper’s straight, orphan, roommate until Harper can tell them. The plot rolls right along and we’re introduced to Harper’s bizarre family. Her mom, Tipper (Mary Steenburgen), and dad, Ted (Victor Garber), are obsessed with perfection. Tipper is constantly taking staged photos of the family to post on Instagram. They also very blatantly favor Harper over their other daughters. Sloane (Alison Brie) is a disappointment because she left her job as a lawyer to make gift baskets and raise her two children. Jane (Mary Holland) is the nicest and also most normal in the family but she also is the most forgotten.
While staying with Harper’s family, poor Abby is treated like garbage. Harper is so obsessed with appearing perfect (and straight) that she ditches Abby for her high school friends. Oh also, her ex-boyfriend Connor (Jake McDorman) is constantly hanging around. I wasn’t quite prepared for how awful the family would be. It was less funny and more sad and frustrating to watch as Abby is continually dismissed and put down by Harper’s family and at times by Harper herself.
However, two supporting characters made the movie a bit more lighthearted. John is Abby’s best friend and he provides some comic relief and wisdom. At one point he makes an excellent speech about coming out and accepting that everyone’s coming out story is different. The other character who kills it is Riley (Aubrey Plaza), a former flame of Harper’s. Riley and Abby begin spending some time together and to be honest I was seriously rooting for them to end up together. Stewart and Plaza had excellent chemistry and Plaza can rock a suit like nobody’s business.
In short, Happiest Season wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be, but it was still an extremely fun watch. I genuinely enjoyed Stewart’s performance and as always, Davis is genuine and charming. If I have one critique it’s that I wish there had been a few more scenes of Abby and Harper at the beginning. I needed more of a reason to root for Harper and Abby to be together. The whole time I was watching Harper and her family’s craziness I just kept thinking, “Abby get out of there. Go be with Riley.” It would have been helpful to have more scenes of the couple at the beginning to get a sense of how good Harper and Abby were together and how in love they were. Without that, it was harder to understand why Abby would have stuck around.
Other than that, Happiest Season is a zany, gay, Christmas movie that’s a lot of fun. If you need a new Christmas movie to add to your list, Happiest Season is one to consider!
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like LGBT stories
2. You are obsessed with Dan Levy
3. You want a slightly cheesy, feel-good Christmas movie
