Happiest Season: Heart-lukewarming LGBTQ themed Christmas movie is the cinematic equivalent of gifted socks

By Thom Ernst

Rating: C

Writer/director Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season is a gift wrapped up in good intentions, tied together with a stellar cast. But despite all efforts, Happiest Season is the film equivalent of an overstuffed Christmas Stocking intended to tide us over until we get to the good stuff beneath the tree. 

And though Happiest Season might not be the brightest star on the tree, it does have a few pleasant surprises.  

Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart are a couple trying to stickhandle their respective families at Xmas.

What’s notable about Happiest Season is its LGBTQ inclusive Christmas story. It joins a list of other same-sex themed holiday films like The Christmas House, 12 Dates of Christmas, and A New York Christmas Wedding; all released this year.  

But type “LGBTQ themed Christmas Movies” into your search engine, and the first still you are likely to see is Kristen Stewart and either Dan Levy or Mackenzie Davis.  The movie has star power.

Stewart and Davis lead the cast as Abby and Harper, a couple committed to a life together. Harper (Davis) loves Christmas and all the kitsch it allows. Abby (Stewart) is the holiday curmudgeon, and for a good reason. It was on a fateful Christmas that a fatal accident robbed Abby of her parents. 

Of course, of the two actors, it’s Stewart who plays the sentimentally challenged one; cynicism is practically her brand. But DuVall’s focus isn’t on Abby getting beyond a tragic past—a situation that makes her both Scrooge and Tiny Tim in one single fall. The bigger issue is Harper, who has yet to inform her family about her relationship or even her sexual identity. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

Harper introduces Abby as her orphaned roommate, a situation DuVall sets up as a reoccurring punchline. The plot is ripe for goofy side-stepping and near misses. But DuVall buries most every opportunity Happiest Season has of becoming a comedy of errors beneath the weightier subject of trust and identity. 

The film has a splendid roster of supporting characters from an equally splendid roster of supporting actors, all of whom do their best to lift the material into the sphere of the holiday spirit. 

Mary Steenburgen plays Tipper, Harper’s mother— and names like Harper and Tipper should clue you into the family’s financial and social realm. Her husband Ted (Victor Garber) is campaigning for city mayor. 

But if Ted’s ambitions make him a distant father whose expectations thwart the emotional growth of his three daughters, then the film fails to provide sufficient evidence. We hear of Ted’s influence, but what we see is simply a man going about his business. It’s Tipper who seems the most out of touch, controlling the ins-and-outs of the family image with the curt insistence of a political press secretary. And yet, when the film reaches a point of reconciliation, Tipper is pardoned of all transgressions.  

Harper’s sisters, Sloane (Alison Brie) and Jane (Mary Holland), are also home for the Holidays. Sloane is Harper’s most fierce competitor for their parents' attention, and Jane is the cluelessly optimistic neglected family embarrassment.

Dan Levy plays John, Abby’s best friend and confidant. It’s the kind of role Tony Randall might play in a Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie. But for a more current reference, John is just David, Levy’s Schitt’s Creek character, in a less outrageous wardrobe. And the excellent Aubrey Plaza as Riley, the mysterious woman from Harper’s past, forgoes her comedic instincts for a subdued character who spends most of her time on the outskirts looking in. No one should put Aubrey in the corner. 

With Happiest Season, DuVall delivers a structurally efficient film that rarely breaks out of its technical framework to become genuinely joyful. And though Duvall presents each scene as a gift wrapped in beautiful, hopeful packages, inside each one is yet another pair of socks. On the other hand, some folks are quite happy receiving socks, and for them, Happiest Season might be the perfect early gift. 

Happiest Season is directed by Clea DuVall and stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Aubrey Plaza and Dan Levy.  Happiest Season is now available to rent or own.