Episode 024: Happiest Season
“A holiday romantic comedy that captures the range of emotions tied to wanting your family's acceptance, being true to yourself, and trying not to ruin Christmas.”
The director and one of the key writers, Clea DuVall, wrote the film as an autobiography. She had stated she wrote it so that she could see her own experiences be played out on the screen.
This week we are going to be reviewing Happiest Season, a Christmas film dealing with coming out to your family during the most stressful time of the year! How could we not be doing a Christmas related film at this time!
You can either listen to the podcast above, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the film followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the film and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to watch Happiest Season and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
Overall the film is what you would generally expect from a Christmas time film. There is a decent slice of comedy to it all, and there is the narrative of managing family dynamics while going home with your partner for the festive period. I don’t watch a lot of festive season films, but I hear that there is a fair amount out there that is sickly in how sweet they are, and so I am thankful that this film is fairly grounded and has a good humour behind the writing and performances of all involved.
The casting of the film is pretty spot on and there isn’t a single actor I had an issue with, their characters might be a different story, but the acting in this really worked for the Christmas rom com drama that it is.
In terms of representation, the main focus of the story is our lesbian couple and the different stages of how they feel about being out to the rest of the world, and specifically to their families. Honestly I think the film does contain a really important lesson around being out and being respectful of each person’s decisions in terms of whether it is time for them to be out to family or not. Nobody's journey is the exactly same as anybody else’s and we will all have our own personal reasons for deciding if and when it is time to be out to certain people in our lives.
But I also do like how this is balanced by also showcasing how this can affect other people, especially our partners who might be forced to put themselves back in the closet and hide who they truly are to help maintain that pretence. Both these topics are skillfully navigated within the film to show how there isn’t a one answer fits all solution and how both parties feelings, the good and the bad, can be valid in these scenarios.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
Now who to recommend this to? Well obviously if you are a fan of Christmas or Hallmark style films, then this is easily one I can tell you to check out! But I would also say that even if you're not a big christmas movie fan like myself, it is still interesting enough that it is worth giving it some time, as it isn’t just cheesy romance but also has some important points about being queer and coming out to family.
Overall, I would say that this film is a worthy nine out of ten stolen expensive pieces of jewellery. As someone that hates Christmas movies, it clearly is an exceptional one for me to have enjoyed it as much as I did!
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the film which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to watch Happiest Season yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go watch the film and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise we won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
So we join the film with our key characters Abby and Harper as they are on some kind of Christmas walking tour, before they decide to split and sit on some random roof to look out at the decorated streets. We learn that Abby isn’t a fan of Christmas and that since Harper is visiting her family for the season, she invites Abby to come with her instead of leaving her alone over the holidays. And thus we kick off our very Hallmark credits sequence with lots of snapshots of the couples relationship so far and how they met, all to get us in that feel good, romantic comedy space!
Yet as soon as we get to the morning after the invite, it seems like Harper is worried about Abby coming along and seems to be trying to give her an out, saying she feels she might have put her on the spot the night before. But nope, Abby is committed now and more than willing to come along, so obviously we will be finding out soon why Harper is having some doubts…
While Abby is having lunch with her friend, who is none other than brilliant Dan Levy also known as the amazing David Rose from Schitt's Creek, they head out to go and pick out an engagement ring as she intends to propose to Harper once she has had a chance to meet her father and ask for his permission to marry his daughter. This is called out for the archaic hetronormative trapping it really is with the statement of “I mean who asks permission as if the person is someone’s property”, which Abby tries to defend as saying it’s a sweet way to show her love and it will be a nice way to spend Christmas morning.
She also talks of how sweet Christmas morning will be with all this settled but John is having none of it as he says it's really sticking it to the patriarchy to ask a man permission! Obviously in the past marriage has had a good element of being a business transaction and so it totally makes sense to challenge if it is a necessary tradition that is worth being involved with, but for some people getting married it is a big declaration of love and commitment. So I’m totally up for the entire thing being healthily challenged in what its purpose is, as is done here, but also just want to comment that it's a choice for each relationship on whether it will be right for those involved in the relationship.
On the car ride over to Harper’s parents, she has an admission to make. Unlike what she said, Harper didn’t actually come out to her parents over the summer this year, and so they all think she is just bringing Abby as her room mate since she doesn’t have anywhere else to go this festive season. And to top it off, it would be best if she also doesn’t mention that she is a lesbian. So clearly off to a great start not only having to hide one’s relationship but also to be shoved right back into the closet. Oh happy holidays indeed and it’s all summed up by the brilliant quote of “There's nothing more erotic than concealing your authentic self”.
As we meet the family, we can see that the mom is a bit of a perfectionist in terms of the families public image while one sister, Jane is not appreciated as much by her parents as Harper is, and that even the eldest daughter Sloane doesn’t meet the high expectations as she has chosen to look after her family rather than be a successful attorney with her husband. Oh what a monster, imagine parents wanting to spend time with their kids instead of just being at work all the time. So right off the bat we can see the parenting in this household is just top notch!
Now if it wasn’t clear yet that this was going to be a romcom, well we start to get some of the fun little mishaps already since Abby won’t be sharing a room with Harper (can’t possibly be having two adult women do such a thing) as she will be down in the basement room. Which doesn’t even have a lock on the door, oh goody!
And when they all go out to dinner we have the hilariously awkward situation of Conner, Harper’s old boyfriend being invited along, Abbey being given a spare chair that is noticeably smaller than everyone else's, and that Riley, the secret ex of Harper, is also there. Talk about an absolutely shit show of a first dinner with your girlfriend's parents (which they don’t even know about yet!). Oof, that would be enough to do me in for sure for the rest of the holidays.
Now since it's Christmas time we have some traditional activities to get ticked off the list, such as going ice skating as a family where we see Harper and Sloane’s sibling rivalry, being woken up by someone else’s kids staring at you like creeps, or trying to take the perfect family photo and it being criticised its not good enough.
There are also enough fun little mishaps between our couple trying to spend time together and not being able to, such as when Abby tries to sneak upstairs to Sloane’s room but ends up having to hide in the closet before being found and having to lie about what she was doing. Talk about an on the nose metaphor! Or when Harper sneaks downstairs and spends the night and then having to hide behind the door in the morning as people just try to barge into the room. Umm hello, personal space much?
Now at some point Abby agrees to go shopping with Sloane and the kids and ends up being left alone with them while Sloane has to get something. While in the shop the kids sneak a fancy piece of jewellery into her bag when she isn’t looking, which obviously results in it appearing as she is a shoplifter for all to see. Now can I just say, don’t be leaving your kids with people you don’t really know nor just expect that they are comfortable with that and also, god damn those little urchins for being so mean spirited. Clearly why Babeushka avoids having any interactions with kids!
But it means when they all get home, the family is super awkward with her and suggest she not come to the fancy dinner tonight since it would be bad optics. So Abby goes for dinner alone and wanders town, such a lovely way to spend the season about togetherness, before she bumps into Riley and they go off for a drink. Here is where we get the best cameo of all time, it’s only BenDeLaCreme and fucking Jinkx Monsoon! YAS QUEENS!
Riley and Abby bond and they get a chance to be open about Harper, about how she actually really hurt by Harper in highschool when she was outed by Harper abandoned her. Such a dick move. And it gets worse as Harper invites Abby out but she is already drunk with friends, so obviously Abby decides to just go while Harper is out most of the night. When Abby tries to broach the subject with her, she gets all ratty about having tabs kept on her, oh sorry someone cared where you are late at night while drinking, and even says she wants space. Abby starts to look at leaving, having finally had enough of this sham, but it's too expensive and so just has to accept venting to her friend John by phone for now.
Now it’s time for the event of the season! No, not Christmas silly. It’s time for the White Elephant Party! Obviously Abby feels like she isn’t really welcome, so she and Riley hang out for most of the night, which earns a lot of watching from Harper while she is with her friends. And of course Abby is similarly obsessed with her partner, being quite rude and not fully listening to Riley as she is talking to her. To which she fairly gets called out and asked what's up, where she shares she just feels alone and had planned to propose tomorrow and now maybe she is not so sure.
Before we get deeper into this however, who barges in the front door to save the trapped lesbian other than John, clearly a friend for life as he has come all this way to get Abby out of the mess she is in. But first he has to act the straight boyfriend to get past mom, and it all goes downhill from here as Harper seems to flirt with Conner and Abby reaches the limit, telling her she is going. Abby and Harper argue in the basement and Sloane overhears and so plans to tell their parents. The girls get into a fight, ruin the gift that Jane spent 100 hours painting, and even publicly outing Harper to everyone to which she says is a lie.
John manages to find Abby and they go for a walk and have a really poignant conversation about being out to people in our lives. John rightly calls it that Harper not coming out to her parents has nothing to do with Abby, as it is all about that person's personal circumstance. Where Abby had loving and supportive parents, his parents kicked him out and didn’t speak to him for years, and countless people will have variations to their coming out story. It shows everyone’s circumstances are unique to them and it doesn’t reflect on who they are with because the moment before you say those words, words you can’t take back and you don’t know how people will react to them or what comes next, can be so terrifying for someone. He also says that just because she isn’t ready now doesn’t mean she won’t ever be and it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love Abby, but also on the flip side, you can choose to be with someone who is ready and that is okay too. It’s just such a perfect piece of queer cinema this scene and it's something every queer kid needs to see or hear!
As Riley is leaving she does check on Harper and lets her know Abby is a really good one, while Harper finally apologises for what she did to her. It was super refreshing to have exes having a positive relationship and to not be attacking the person’s new interest, as usually media makes it that exes can never be friends on any level and it’s all got to be jealousy.
While dad is busy going off at his daughters for misbehaving, making up lies, and jeopardising their reputation, Abby comes back just to get her stuff. It is here where finally we can do away with the secrets and lies! Harper comes out to her parents about being in a relationship now and with Riley back in the day, Sloane admits she is getting a divorce, and Jane doesn’t have any secrets but is an ally (cause the A is totally for Ally!). It just shows how much the family has hidden from each other due to the toxic culture that has been fostered with this need for perfection.
Dad goes off to his office to process everything with his wife as they comment on how they don’t know what perfect is but they have failed each of their kids, which shows some real growth and willingness to admit they didn’t get it right on their part. But while this is happening Abby goes, with Harper trying to stop her cause she has done the thing now, but Abby does have a valid point when she says it's too late. Honestly for a lot of the film I was also quite frustrated with Harper and so I can deeply appreciate Abby’s position here that it’s been a horrible time for her and she is done.
But there is no way we can end a Christmas movie on a downer and so while Abby and John are filling up at the gas station, who should show up for a big declaration of love other than Harper (with a little help from John telling her where they were). With the big speeches of love out of the way, of course our girls are going to stick together after all and we can all go back to the family home now that everything is patched up! A truly sickly sweet, but well earned, happy finish.
And the moment we are all waiting for, Christmas morning! Everyone is gathered in the living room apart from dad, and they all seem a lot more relaxed and willing to genuinely connect with each other. Even the evil lil kids admit to having put the necklace in Abby’s bag, finally clearing her name, even if there does seem to be a distinct lack of repercussions for the lil fuckers.
Dad finally appears and apologises for how he has been, admitting that he has also wanted all of them to be proud of him and so has been pushing himself for those things he thought would achieve this effect. Again it’s just showing that we should stop putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves and loved ones to be a certain way, and should embrace them as they are.
Just when he is reconciling with his family, he is tested when he gets a call saying that if they did proceed with his political ambitions, he would be likely to win but Harper would need to have a don’t ask don’t tell policy for her private life. But now that he knows his daughter’s authentic self, he tells them no, no longer willing to make his family miserable in the pursuit of public acceptance. It’s a really welcome change and shows that no matter the age we are, we are always capable of learning and growing. And it is nicely finished off with Abby being invited into the family Christmas photo.
The film finishes with a little epilogue, where Jane’s book has actually become a bestseller and we see that Abby and Harper are now engaged. It’s a really nice finish for all the characters and I especially liked that Jane finally got her moment! And it wouldn’t be a slightly cheesy Christmas movie without a photoreel accompanying the credits, giving us some really fun and cute shots of the characters as we wrap up the film.