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Movie Review: Happiest Season
Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis) takes her girlfriend Abigail Holland (Kristen Stewart) to spend the holidays with her family. Abigail is the name of a concept album from King Diamond, which itself inspired the name of a sex-crazed black metal band from Japan. That has nothing to do with the movie, forgive me. Besides, they call her Abby 99% of the time. Tension arises when Harper reveals her family doesn’t know she’s a lesbian and Abby will have to pose as her roommate until Harper feels comfortable coming out.
Hiding their relationship leads to what doesn’t rise to the level of antics, but is still well outside recognizable human behavior. There are the routine misunderstandings, awkward dinners, and close calls. The one interesting detail of the plot is that Harper’s parents aren’t bible-thumpers. Her father (Victor Garber) is running for mayor, and though his speeches include vague references to “family values,” Harper’s reluctance is due to fear of hindering his campaign rather than offending his moral convictions. When everything inevitably comes out, it turns out Harper’s two sisters also feel stifled by their father’s insistence on projecting an image of a perfect family. It’s about overbearing parenting rather than bigotry.
That doesn’t let the movie off the hook. A parent you were justifiably worried about coming out to wouldn’t have a change of heart overnight. The audience for Happiest Season wouldn’t have it another way. They’re the type to make sure romance stories have the HEA tag before jumping in. They want a cozy visit to a world where any relationship can be mended with a heartfelt speech. You may question then why I chose to watch this. I have no one to blame except myself, since the trailer was clear about what was in store. My judgment was clouded by the fact that not only does Kristen Stewart play a lesbian, but so does Aubrey Plaza. There was a chance the movie could save me the trouble of writing a hot fan fiction.
Harper Caldwell (Mackenzie Davis) and Abigail Holland (Kristen Stewart) share a moment.
If you have an interest in the movie as base and particular as mine, don’t bother. Though their scenes are not sexy, Stewart and Plaza deserve a tip of the hat for their chemistry. Plaza plays Riley Johnson, an ex of Harper’s who has a thing for Abby. Abby and Riley’s unfulfilled romance is the most grounded part of the movie. There seems to be a genuine attraction between the two, both portrayed by actresses known for their reserved personae. Stewart gets called a bad actress by people who confuse acting with emoting, who’ve never met a quiet person, who didn’t understand who Twilight appealed to and why.
The cast is filled with actors working harder than the material merits. Alison Brie plays Harper’s sister Sloane with such unblinking severity she’s near unrecognizable. She’s the type of high-strung, uptight mega-mom whose beauty is too regimented to be attractive. Mary Holland plays Harper’s other sister, Jane, a daft wannabe fantasy writer who would be a fun character in a better movie. Dan Levy plays the stock gay friend with prancing flamboyance. He harangues Abby for the first half of the movie, but when given decent material, he delivers the movie’s few funny lines. Mackenzie Davis is tall.
Riley Johnson (Aubrey Plaza)
We’re long past the time when gay movies were issue movies with very important messages. Gays are no longer relegated to indie dramas. It’s full integration. Now they get to make bad movies too. A defense of Happiest Season would be that it’s inoffensive, which is true. Even content-wise this barely earns its PG-13 (they don’t even use their one F-bomb). If you just want a nice time where you can imagine having your own gay bestie who says the right thing when you most need it, then have at it, I guess, but I can’t recommend spending 100 minutes watching Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza not make out.
Published in Entertainment
This review is 650 words. I couldn’t compel myself to come up with another sixteen.
Thanks for the warning.
Based on my long-ago experience as a movie projectionist on Times Square, I make the following observations:
If it’s solely an audience of men, few will object to a lesbian sex scene in a heartwarming Christmas movie.
On the other hand, men would strenuously object to a heartwarming Christmas scene in a lesbian sex film.
I think Netflix had this movie last year.
I guess this is the advantage of putting a Christmas themed gay rom com… When if flops on initial release you can recycle it every Christmas, and maybe over time make back your investment… Wikipedia doesnt say what the movie’s budget was, but the box office was $2.1 Million… I sense a huge tax write off for someone there …
Considering the cast: Kristen Stewart, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen, this should have been a much better film. I remember Mary Steenburgen from “Joan of Arcadia”. Loved that show.
Maybe Covid lockdowns happening in the middle of production messed things up, maybe its not the movie they intended to make, but circumstances left them with…
16 words short. How about: “It is sickening that, in our society, objection to homosexual and lesbian perversion that is condemned.”
The movie was slated for theaters but bought by Hulu during the pandemic. The box office was from the international release during 2020, so I wouldn’t put much stock in that. According to one source on Wikipedia, it had the best debut in Hulu’s history.
I think studio’s bank on any Christmas release bringing annual revenue.
Mary Steenburgen played Ralphie’s mom in My Summer Story, Bob Clark’s forgotten sequel to A Christmas Story. Life is an intricate tapestry.
It’s sounds no different from the majority of Hallmark movies out there every year. Coming from someone who really likes Imagine Me and You even though it has issues as well, RomComs are enjoyable because they don’t have to be as consistent as other movies (IMO).
If you just want a nice time where you can imagine having your own gay bestie who says the right thing when you most need it, then have at it, I guess, but I can’t recommend spending 100 minutes watching Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza not make out.
This really cements my decision not to watch.
Thanks for the 650. The other thing is how much of what gets produced for Christmas entertainment reminds of the crap that sits on shelves, picked over and lightly consumed, in all the shops and stores at the tail end of the week before Christmas. Sort of like the island of misfit entertainments, yeah, they sort of work, but if you never saw them you won’t have missed anything. One assumes Kristen, et al, cackle over phat coin and go home happy, so no one really loses.
Also, knowing that movies like The Crappiest Season exist make me want to watch every John Wick flick, back to back to back to back to back, and at the end of the viewing, I exhale an extended “Ahhhhh…..”, then fall asleep, happily, with visions of knife fights dancing in my head.
I streamed this movie last Christmas, I saw it somewhere…
If this was the best debut in Hulu’s history – that may say more about Hulu than this movie.
Joan of Acadia is getting kinda old now – Amber Tamblyn plays a high school student in it. But if you can find it – its a good watch.
I’m wondering, in this era of “appropriation,” if there is a certain class of lesbians who are tired of seeing “Hollywood” lesbians portrayed as being of a certain “feminine” type perceived to be more acceptable to a mass audience.
Interesting, I’d have thought the appeal was their consistency. You know what to expect when you watch a romcom.
Can’t wait for Part 4. I’ve thought each entry was a bit better than the last.
I hear the next one is in space and he fights an alien. Pass the popcorn!
You mean My Summer Story?
Joe Ramoni has a good rundown of the film. My taste differs from his quite a bit, but his videos are always great:
It’s possible it’s been dethroned by Prey or something else in the past two years. Christmas movies and romcoms are popular, and during lockdown people probably wanted something light.
I remember hearing about it–good things. It wouldn’t have been to my taste in junior high when it came out, and unfortunately I don’t have the time these days.
I did find it funny that Gina Gershon was the “butch” one in Bound. I also found it very hot.
Surely somebody complains, but I don’t think it gains a lot of attention. Mackenzie Davis isn’t gay according to Google, though Kristen Stewart is engaged to a woman and seems like she would be. I didn’t mention it in the review, but it was hard to believe Harper’s parents wouldn’t have suspicions about Abby.
Being a huge fan of Showgirls, I can see Gina Gershon because she projects as “tough.” What I’m getting at, and seriously, is the exclusion of those gay women who are “butch”(and, being an old guy, I have no idea even if that term is now offensive). You know what I mean. I also don’t know if the term “lipstick lesbian” is still appropriate, but, to me, it describes those who Hollywood likes to pretend are all lesbians. Sorry for the digression, but it seems relevant here.
Tough, yes, but she’s also glamorous and beautiful. Not what you’d normally associate with the term.
I know what you mean. Hollywood isn’t welcoming to unattractive women, no matter who they’re supposed to portray. I’m sure in indie and arthouse movies you can find more diverse portrayals. I’ve heard criticism that lesbians in movies are more often geared toward straight male sensibilities, though I haven’t seen any calls to cast more stereotypical masculine women–I doubt those are the type of lesbians to care a lot about romcoms. Happiest Season may show the tide turning as far as appealing more to lesbian audiences.
I’m not up on the terminology, but I don’t think “butch” or “lipstick lesbian” is considered derogatory, though I more often see “femme” used in place of the latter.
Considering what Hollywood men want to do with them – I think Lesbianism seems like a pragmatic choice.
To Gina Gershon project tough, you have to see her in “Bound” with Jennifer Tilly. I didnt even notice Gina Gershon was in Showgirls. Its hard to imagine, but she hit the big 6 this year…
From 2003, the Joan of Arcadia Pilot:
Not that I am unhappy discussing lipstick or butch lesbians in media. But its a tear jerker of a series… The dailymotion website seems to randomize videos – so after the pilot it wants to jump into the middle of season 2…
Its not at all about Christmas, its a family drama – about a family in crisis.
Just check out the pilot.
I like my Christmas movies without references to sex thanks, orientation irrelevant. Nothing would induce me to watch this.
Fair enough.
There is no sex scene in the film, the drama of the film is about the daughter being closeted, and foolishly brings her girlfriend home for Christmas… Its kinda like “Guess who’s coming to dinner”, but everyone is white, and none are as talented as Sidney Poitier.
Is there a recent Christmas movie that you enjoyed?
If you didn’t notice Gina Gershon in Showgirls, or at least parts of her, it must have been an “ edited for television” version.
No, I rented it on VHS. I just didnt know who she was. I thought “Bound” was the only film I’ve seen her in.
No. I liked Elf but I don’t love it.
It doesn’t even matter if it’s not explicit, I don’t want subversion at Christmas. That’s usually the point anyway.
It’s not like I don’t have gay relatives or friends, their life is their own business. But plots and stories are never incidental anymore, it’s always The Message as Critical Drinker calls it that’s the point of the film’s existence. So even if the 2 women aren’t going at it the point is made. So I don’t want subversion anymore than I want perversion, Love Actually being an example of the latter.
For me, the agenda in a Christmas movie should be Christmas.
Yea, there are no more Miracles on any street.
I thought Tim Allan’s Santa Clause movie was pretty funny. But the Christmas messaging of Peace and good will seems to be lost in translation.
Would you count that as recent though?
Last I checked, all episodes available on youtube.
Don’t forget “Under Siege,” some pretty cool fighting – knife and otherwise – in that too.