Painful proposal
Couple’s Christmas visit takes a difficult turn in ‘Happiest Season’
There are movies that are enjoyable only because they’re Christmas films. Then there’s “Happiest Season.” ● On its surface, the plot wouldn’t be eye-catching while scrolling through all of the season’s cinematic offerings on your streaming service of choice. A spirited woman brings her decidedly un-festive partner home for the holidays to meet her family, and the secrets and misunderstandings cause some entertaining conflict for the couple before they’re all cleared up. ● Happily ever after; put a diamond ring on it.
What sets “Happiest Season” apart is it’s the first major studio holiday movie revolving around an LGBTQ couple, according to Hulu, the film’s distributor.
How ‘Happiest Season’ is different
While the majority of Christmas films that pop up in bulk this time of year on streaming services are a dime a dozen — and traditionally lack diverse main characters — “Happiest Season” is the well-cast romantic comedy featuring a gay couple that we’ve been sorely missing.
There aren’t doppelgängers or princes from distant lands. Instead,the story of Harper (Mackenzie Davis) and Abby (Kristen Stewart) spending Christmas together is one that people all over the world can relate to, especially those who are part of the LGBTQ community.
Harper, a journalist who writes about politics for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Abby, a Ph.D. candidate in art history at Carnegie Mellon University, are living in domestic bliss in Pennsylvania — that is, until Abby finds out on the way to meet the parents that Harper lied about having already come out to them as a lesbian.
Despite her hesitation, Abby agrees to pretend to be Harper’s heterosexual roommate.
Then she dares to tempt fate when she declares, “We can do this. It’s five days — how bad can it be?”
Kristen Stewart plays the loving girlfriend role with ease
“Happiest Season” was filmed earlier this year, with almost no time to spare before this public health crisis. As a result, it’s almost heartbreakingly full of activities many of us don’t feel safe doing during this pandemic, such as traveling home, hugging parents, eating at restaurants, going to bars with childhood friends and making small talk at Christmas parties.
Stewart effortlessly pulls off the role of Abby, a well-adjusted young woman and partner. She has a knack for making good impressions on parents, she’s graceful about people’s awkwardness when they learn her own parents are dead and she’s accommodating and patient.
And while she might not be all-in on
Christmas, she is all-in with Harper. In fact, she’s even planning a Christmas morning proposal.
Abby’s soon faced with Harper’s family: mother Tipper (Mary Steenburgen), the high-strung wife of local councilman and father Ted Caldwell (Victor Garber), who’s running for mayor, and Harper’s sisters, offbeat and passionate writer Jane (Mary Holland) and uptight former lawyer Sloane (Alison Brie).
And according to Ted, “This family has nothing to hide.”
Yes, you’re gonna get a plethora of ‘closet’ jokes
Director Clea DuVall and co-writer Mary Holland spend ample time showing us that Abby’s dealing with two conservative parents.
Tipper laughs off the idea of two grown women sharing a bed, and later, husband Ted invokes the phrase “family, tradition and faith” in a nod to a major campaign donor he wants to win over in a Christmas party speech.
Upon the women’s arrival,
Tipper joyfully gives Abby a tour of Harper’s childhood bedroom, emblematic of the straight young woman Tipper believes her daughter is. There are posters of male pop stars adorning the inside of Harper’s closet door — only one of several references to the metaphorical closet — and a framed prom photo with high school ex-boyfriend Connor (Jake McDorman).
It’s no surprise that Abby’s earnest efforts to win over Harper’s parents and sisters fall flat. She’s not even sure she knows who Harper is anymore.
At least Abby’s feminist queer friend John (Daniel Levy) is there for her with quips that would make David Rose from “Schitt’s Creek” proud.
“There’s nothing more erotic than concealing your authentic selves,” John snarks after Abby reveals her situation with Harper’s family.
Eventually, Abby needs to how much she can put up with.
“I feel really suffocated in the closet you shoved me into,” Abby tells a struggling Harper, who is finding it difficult to live up to the expectations of being both
decide
Abby’s girlfriend and the Caldwells’ favorite daughter.
Abby does mean this literally, too. DuVall pulls no punches with the closet jokes when Abby finds herself hiding from Tipper in the utility closet while sneaking her way over to Harper’s room.
And thus the cracks begin to show: Abby is faced with the dilemma of staying involved with someone who’s not ready to come out to her family.
Dan Levy delivers an enthralling monologue on coming-out stories
It’s worth noting that a number of the actors in “Happiest Season,” including Levy, Aubrey Plaza (who plays Harper’s ex-girlfriend, Riley) and Stewart, as well as director DuVall, also identify as LGBTQ.
So it’s that much more enthralling when Levy delivers an emphatic monologue to help Abby understand that every coming-out story is unique.
“The one thing that all of those stories have in common is that moment right before you say those words, when your heart is racing and you don’t know what’s coming next. That moment’s really terrifying,” he says. “A chapter has ended and a new one’s begun, and you have to be ready for that. You can’t do it for anyone else.”
We watch these Christmas films to see families fall apart spectacularly before a grand, heartwarming finale. The falling apart portion was easy, with one of those drag-out public family fights.
But in this second feature film from DuVall, a breakthrough addition to such a conventional genre, she doesn’t quite accomplish the task of piecing it all together by the end in a way that feels authentic.
Nevertheless, like Abby and Harper’s trip, this is a journey well worth taking.