Happiest Season – A Fresh Holiday Romcom (Early Review)

It’s time to add a new film to the Christmas film rotation. Romantic comedies have consistently been a popular subgenre of Christmas or holiday films but most have failed to keep up with the times in terms of representation, continuously featuring the same basic elements and themes. Happiest Season is the latest holiday romantic comedy that hopes to change things both in front of and behind the camera as the first major studio LGBTQ holiday romcom. While this fact is undoubtedly a noteworthy one, the film is merely a compelling yet timely story that happens to focus on a lesbian couple thus putting a different spin on the genre. Propelled by some great writing and a stellar cast, it is an endearing watch despite those aforementioned themes still being more or less the same this time around. Nevertheless, the representation factor is still an important as the fact that some audiences will get to see themselves on screen is still a powerful one.

Happiest Season tells the story of a couple named Abby (Stewart) and Harper (Davis) whose relationship gets turned upside down after the latter takes her home to her family for Christmas. Planning to propose to her on Christmas day, little did Abby know that Harper’s family were unaware that she was gay. This challenge proved to be a tightrope but as far as they were concerned, they loved each other. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg regarding Harper’s life. That overwhelming feeling of Harper’s life and baggage and one of being out of one’s element was very real for Abby as she was faced with a person different from the one she thought she knew. Meanwhile, Harper’s secret went much deeper and that pressure to hold it all together while managing her relationship with Abby was just as real. Part of the drama came from whether or not their relationship would survive by the end of the film because it certainly faced a fair share of challenges for either woman.

The fun of Happiest Season was watching Abby and Harper navigate their way through Harper’s family and the general craziness that is Christmastime which definitely didn’t help the situation. That dynamic was surprisingly deep and fun to watch play out while the other family characters were interesting in their own right and seeing them play off of each other was fun to watch and often hilarious. There was clearly some history there that nor Abby knew as she was basically the audience going into it. Though there were plenty of hijinks in keeping Abby and Harper’s secret a secret until the time was right and occasionally facing the consequences of those choices, there was also plenty of drama as the situation allowed each of them the opportunity to take a deep look at themselves and their relationship. The ultimate end may have been an inevitable one but this did not make it any less powerful or earned because of all the good work the film did to get there.

In the end, the best part of Happiest Season was its stellar performances across the board, especially Stewart and Davis as Abby and Harper. Anything else the film could have offered would have worked nearly as well if not for the relationship at its center and thankfully, each deliver. Though this film was undoubtedly Stewart’s, Davis was just as solid but a better balance between the two would have been better. Stewart’s relatability made it easy to connect with Abby on a deep level while the struggle within Davis’ Harper was real. The film should have dug into the latter a little more. Regardless, the two cared for one another. Meanwhile, the film featured several scene-stealing performances from Mary Holland as Harper’s oddball sister Jane and Daniel Levy as Abby’s friend John who got to deliver a powerful monologue later in the film.

At the end of the day, Happiest Season may not reinvent the genre but its fresh take is still one that deserves some attention come this holiday season.

still courtesy of Hulu

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.