HAPPIEST SEASON Review
By: Justin Norris
Tags: Kristen Stewart, Happiest Season, Mackenzie Davis, Clea Duvall, Film Reviews

There are few things more resilient during the Christmas holiday season (pandemic be damned) than the traditional release of a mainstream studio romantic comedy set around or during the season of giving. While most of these releases tend to be forgettable in quality yet comforting in their persistence, one can’t help but think of the holiday season without thinking of those mediocre movies they still put on the TV as they do other things around the house. HAPPIEST SEASON, despite its barrier breaking conceit will no doubt be one of these films.

Written (with assistance from actress Mary Holland) and directed by Clea DuVall in her second directorial debut, HAPPIEST SEASON introduces viewers to Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) as they get ready to go spend the holiday season with Harper’s family. While Abby isn’t usually inclined to celebrate the season for a variety of personal reasons, she nevertheless looks forward to finally meeting Harper’s family as she plans to propose to Harper with the blessing of Harper’s politician father (Victor Garber). There’s just one catch: Harper hasn’t actually told her family that she’s gay and in a relationship with Abby leading the young couple to pose as “close friends” instead. As the couple works to keep up the façade in the face of Harper’s perfection pursuing family and past lovers (Jake McDorman and Aubrey Plaza, respectively), Abby begins to question if the foundations of her relationship with Harper is as sturdy as she thought it was.

But don’t let the potential for a genuinely intriguing look at the struggles of a gay couple in the face of their more conservative family fool you, HAPPIEST SEASON is also here to indulge in the schmaltz and easy humor of studio rom-coms you’ve come to know and forget about. With that you get pratfalls, problems that could easily be solved if both parties just talked to one another (not including the actual process of “coming out” to loved ones), aesthetically pleasing small towns outfitted in Christmastime joy (seriously, taking out the relationship strife and internal conflicts, I would love to live in this movie’s setting),and lessons learned about being true to yourself and accepting others for who they are! Indeed, DuVall valiantly tries to set her story between these two extremes and for the most part, the more “Hallmark-y” side wins out. Now, to the filmmaker’s credit, she proves herself to be pretty good at crafting a pleasant looking movie that goes down easy as HAPPIEST SEASON adeptly delivers light chuckles and overwrought emotional moments. Nevertheless, for a film that the filmmaker herself describes as autobiographical, this romantic comedy never feels “real” enough as it gets a little too bogged down by the overwhelming studio sweetness.

Even so, HAPPIEST SEASON finds its best footing when the unique personalities of its story and characters get a little breathing room. While Abby and Harper’s relationship isn’t as enthralling as one would hope, Stewart and Davis nevertheless inject their characters with some extra juice, particularly in regards to Stewart, who puts in a pretty good, for lack of a better term, straight man performance. With an easy going presence, it’s nice to see Stewart transition from her more arty and somber work to bask in this film’s cheery warmness, delivering jokes with ease and hitting the right notes for her character’s more emotional moments. Opposite Stewart, Davis fares slightly worse comparatively speaking due to the fact that her character (like in the tradition of all other mainstream rom-coms) is kind of unlikable despite our main character’s pursuit of them. While Davis brings some interesting emotional weight to her character’s emotional moment towards the film’s end, Harper is written as someone who’s pretty selfish all things considered which makes the relationship between the two ring a little hollow. Nevertheless, HAPPIEST SEASON occasionally displays a unique and personable tuning that makes true on the filmmaker’s autobiographical claim with scenes that personably describe the experience of being gay (either as your own person or while in a relationship) with a standout scene involving Dan Levy as Abby’s friend John delivering a memorable monologue on the sometimes terrible uniqueness of the coming out experience.

But if there’s one thing more powerful than the genuinely involving insights into the trials and tribulations of a lesbian couple, it’s the ceaseless machinations of a studio rom-com and HAPPIEST SEASON is more than fine with indulging in the cheesier side of its tale. That being said, this is a film that should find its fair share of accolades amongst general audience members now cooped up in their homes during this socially-distanced holiday season. While this Christmas won’t be like any others in recent memory, it’s nice to know that movies like HAPPIEST SEASON will still be around to give us some mild generic entertainment just this time with a bit of trailblazing spirit to give things that extra pizzazz.

2.5/5