Happiest Season Review

The thoughtful and contemporary foundation of the new Christmas comedy Happiest Season avoids a number of the obnoxious tropes found throughout many films of the genre. The pleasantly strong character arcs and heartwarming moments keep the film moving at a rapid pace that's easy to enjoy. Though Happiest Season does feel the need to follow some formulaic methods to advance towards its forward-looking climax, the heartfelt performances and delightful comedic delivery helps accouche an enjoyably grounded film.

Happiest Season follows Abby, who plans to meet the family of, and propose to, her girlfriend Harper at their annual Christmas dinner. But Abby's proposal plans become rocky when she realizes that Harper's family doesn't even know she's gay. As Abby learns how much Harper has kept their relationship a secret from her family, she begins to question everything about the lover she thought she understood.

Happiest Season offers an entertaining blend of over-the-top humour and thoughtfully crafted commentaries on acceptance and equality through an LGBTQ2S+ lens. The refreshing takes on these themes help bring a welcomed energy to the film's narrative progression, heightened by the cast's collection of charismatic performances. The chemistry of Kirstin Stewart and Dan Levy is often a catalyst to the film's most vital moments.

Though Happiest Season is strongest when executing its meaningful and relatable themes, there are setups in-between that feel tired and overdone. Predictability can often mar individual sections of the film, briefly slowing the movie's franticness down in order to force boring exposition. Though the narrative laziness that Happiest Season sometimes insists on implementing can be jarring, it never ruins a scene completely, merely fastening mediocrity to select sequences.

Overall, the warmth and humour generated throughout help forgive the film of some of its more foreseeable and tedious storytelling methods. Helmed by fantastic performances from the entirety of its cast, there are enough enjoyable moments of quirkiness and seasonal spirit during the steady pacing of Happiest Season.

A modern romantic spin on many classic Christmas cliches keeps the fresh moments of Happiest Season more prominent than the tedious setups that can occur.

Produced By: Hulu
Runtime: 103 minutes
Rating: PG-13