Happiest Season (2020)

Director: Clea DuVall
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen
Runtime: 102 minutes

Synopsis: 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.

Verdict: Holiday season is upon us and with it the inevitable influx of Christmas-themed movies. Hulu's "Happiest Season" served as the opening act of the festival to come, and both its cast and premise piqued my interest when I looked it up on IMDb. Even though it seemed like something that wouldn't match my taste, the favorable reviews it received and the mood I was in as a long week came to a close convinced me to give it a try anyway.

Within the first 5 minutes of the romantic-comedy, I knew that I was wrong not to trust my gut. While the film is certainly harmless at its core, it also does a remarkably lazy job at establishing the (either annoying or unlikeable) characters and their struggles. Between a ton of exposition and an avalanche of jokes we've sat through more than once in the past, the film failed to bring a freshness to a genre that feels overdone and a narrative way too predictable to keep me invested. Even the progressive topic of the difficulties of coming out to family members felt almost like a gimmick to advance the narrative, which once again proved that all romcoms must adhere to Murphy's Law stating that if something can go wrong, it will. That is, of course, until everything gets resolved over the course of a fairy-tale ending you've been expecting since the very beginning and that, in that case, didn't seem to align with the movie's message.

Even though my words seem harsh, they're all converging towards the same conclusion: "Happiest Season" belongs in a genre I'm not particularly fond of. It's harmless, and I can see many romcoms enthusiasts having a good time with it but I, unfortunately, don't belong in that demographic. 

FINAL GRADE: 4/10