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When people think of a typical Christmas movie, Hallmark movies most often come to mind. Countless Christmas movies feature happy families, hot cocoa, decorated trees, Santa, and love stories too good to be true. However, actual family Christmases seldom meet these standards of perfection. In 2020, viewers have seen an influx of new Christmas movies on a variety of streaming platforms. While the bulk of these movies do follow the standard Christmas movie formula, there are some exceptions. Most notably, the movie Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, explores a holiday reality not often explored in Christmas movies: going home when you’re still in the closet.
Holidays can be an uncomfortable and stressful time for people with closed-minded parents. This movie digs into a family’s holiday where everyone hides who they are to feel accepted. Happiest Season provides some honest insight into a family not often seen in Christmas movies that encourages viewers to experience a different holiday celebration.
The Gay Holiday Experience
Most holiday Christmas movies are centered around the same kind of conflicts; usually, it’s workaholic parents who don’t believe in Santa Claus. There is also a focus on gifts, couples rekindling lost love, or rejuvenating holiday spirit. Happiest Season is a little more realistic with its premise and conflict. Abby and Harper, the two romantic leads, find themselves staying with Harper’s parents for Christmas. Abby is excited to take this next step in the relationship by spending the holidays with Harper’s family.
The only problem is that Harper has yet to come out to her parents, which Abby didn’t know until they were already at Harper’s place. This situation puts Abby back into the closet right beside Harper, which focuses Abby to relive a time she thought was long behind her. The movie primarily focuses on Abby’s frustrations with Harper and Harper’s family, as she tries to hold their relationship together.
Happiest Season offers a different holiday reality where the holiday season is not so happy for everyone. The movie is a much more realistic approach to the holiday season while still having a happy ending.
Meet My “Roommate”
Until the end of the movie, Abby is known as Harper’s “roommate.” But Harper lives in a one-bedroom apartment, which makes this lie hard to sell. Calling a partner a “roommate” or “best friend” to avoid unwanted questions is a common trick that I even use from time to time. The roommate lie isn’t the only one that’s told to keep Harper’s family from finding out, and these lies force both Harper and Abby to hide.
Harper is just so hesitant to lose her relationship with her family that she’s willing to hide herself and her relationship in order to maintain her family’s idea of her. Harper’s hiding is out of fear, while Abby agrees to hide their relationship out of love. Their relationship is further put to the test by challenges that almost any couple can relate to.
What Everyone Can Relate To
This movie doesn’t just focus on the struggles of a lesbian relationship. It is relatable for any couple, as it also deals with the struggles of going home for the holidays. Going home for the holidays can be awkward for any couple, and this movie does a great job of showing just how stressful it can be.
For example, a big problem in Abby’s and Harper’s relationship is Harper’s reversion to her high school self. Throughout the movie, Abby agrees to the roommate’s lie because she loves Harper. And Abby would’ve kept it up had Harper not pushed her aside in favor of her old friends.
Visits with the family and old friends can be important to the development of a romantic relationship. Meeting who raised a significant other is a great way to learn more about them. It can be helpful to see who raised one’s significant other in order to better understand the person. However, watching one’s significant other change into their old self, like their high school self, can be unattractive. But it helps generate a clearer picture of one’s significant other.
In Abby’s case, she learns that Harper is the golden child of the family. She was very popular in school, and she’s easily swept up in the pageantry and superficiality of her parents’ parties. Image is everything for Harper’s family, and Harper behaves like she believes the same when she’s home with them. This shift surprises Abby and makes her reconsider her relationship with Harper. Personality changes are common during the holidays due to the influence of parents and old friends. Some couples can recover from these changes, while others are not so lucky.
The Secret’s Out
All good charades must come to an end. When Harper’s secret finally comes out, she initially denies it. Abby sees this denial as the last straw and leaves Harper. Along the way, Abby’s friend reminds her that everyone’s coming out story is different. Audiences learn that part of why Abby doesn’t understand why Harper won’t tell her family is that Abby’s coming out was uneventful.
Abby was lucky enough to have a family who didn’t care that she was gay, but Abby’s friend reminds her that other people aren’t as fortunate. Harper’s fears are completely valid, and Abby’s desire to be with someone who’s already out is equally as valid. However, Harper does admit that she was wrong, and she finally comes out to her family. So, Abby takes her back, and the rom-com ends well!
Why You Should Watch Happiest Season
There’s a lot to learn from this movie. From the challenges of lesbian romances to the struggles of going home with a partner for the holidays, this movie provides insight into it all. Everyone’s holidays are different, and they’re seldom realistically seen in movies.
Some may argue that they watch movies to escape reality, which is why they watch Hallmark movies. However, Happiest Season is full of tender moments between Harper and Abby. Considering that most rom-coms focus on heterosexual relationships, these tender moments are really awesome to watch. Hopefully, Happiest Season brings about even more lesbian-focused movies set during the happiest time of year.