Arts

‘Happiest Season’ breaks typical holiday movie mold

Madeline Michalowski ’22, Staff Writer|December 11, 2020

Hulu’s holiday romcom “Happiest Season” is successful in instilling empathy towards it’s characters and in communicating the struggle of finding acceptance in our heteronormative society.

We all know the classic holiday Hallmark movies. A struggling heroine finds the perfect guy on Christmas day, revealing how magical and wrapped-with-love this time of the year is. The movies are, of course, cheesy and very stereotypically heterosexual.

Breaking this mold, Hulu’s new holiday movie “Happiest Season” is able to convey this same feeling of love, but with a homosexual couple instead.

Released on Nov. 25, the romantic comedy follows Kristen Stewart as Abby on her trip to visit her girlfriend Harper’s (Mackenzie Davis) family for the first time. However, she quickly finds out that Harper has not come out to her traditional family, yet. Abby is convinced by Harper to put up a heterosexual charade until after the holidays, when she promises she will tell them the truth. Acting as Harper’s roommate and friend, Abby encounters many of Harper’s exes, crazy family members and friends throughout the trip, creating lots of comedic scenes.

The conflict arises when Abby begins to feel like she doesn’t recognize her girlfriend anymore from the way she tries to please everyone and hides her true self. A divide in their relationship forms and Abby’s close gay friend from home, John (Daniel Levy), coaches her through every struggle over the phone. The film effectively communicates to its viewers that one’s love for their partner is not reflected in their ability to be out to their family, and that pressure on family members to be perfect takes away from a true family bond.

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The film effectively communicates to its viewers that one’s love for their partner is not reflected in their ability to be out to their family, and that pressure on family members to be perfect takes away from a true family bond.

— Madeline Michalowski ’22

What made the film worth watching for me was the actors’ ability to make the viewer feel empathetic towards them. The movie could have easily fallen flat with it’s common storyline, but particularly Kristen Stewart as the main character did it justice because she felt real and raw. Other great comedic additions were Daniel Levy who I recognized and love from the popular sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” as well as Mary Holland, who plays one of Harper’s sisters. They gave their characters depth and purpose where some others in the movie did not.

It is important that this movie is recognized and watched because it breaks traditional molds in the entertainment industry. Representing homosexual relationships in movies helps to instill a sense of normalcy and acceptance.

I give director Clea DuVall a round of applause for the movie’s message of acceptance.

Overall, “Holiday Season” was a warm and comforting watch that brought a much needed reminder that love triumphs even in the midst of personal struggle and roadblocks.

“Holiday Season” receives an 8/10 and will definitely be added to my list of holiday classics for next season.