the happiest đ
Manila, 29 NovemberâIt feels almost obscene to headline something with âhappyâ these days, but I hope you can indulge me. This year has been called a lot of things, but I think it also bears noting that itâs been a good year for queer content.
When we first heard about Clea DuVallâs âHappiest Season,â which was advertised as a lesbian holiday rom-com, of course we got excited. In the movie, Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis play Abby and Harper, who are lovers headed home to Harperâs family for Christmas.
!! SPOILERS AFTER THE TRAILER !!
First things firstâwe enjoyed this movie. I donât think we have a lesbian holiday movie just yet, and this is definitely a welcome addition to this yearâs roster of queer favorites, which includes Alice Wuâs The Half of It, which premiered on Netflix in May, and The Haunting of Bly Manor, which premiered October, also on Netflix. Also worth noting is local GL series Pearl Next Door, which deserves its own entry altogether (for which I should probably do blow-by-blow recapsâlove your own!)âcurrently ongoing, so you might want to catch up!
Anyway, in Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart plays Abby, who is head-over-heels in love with her girlfriend Harper (Davis, who I first met as Yorkie in San Junipero, and later, as Grace in Terminator: Dark Fate). Harper loves Christmas; Abby, not so much, for completely understandable, dead-parents-related reasons that we learn about much later.
In the middle of a memorable Christmas-y night (which involves Abby falling off a roof, nbd), Harper asks Abby to come home with her to her parentsâ house for Christmasânot the original plan, as Abby was supposed to spend it alone in their apartment, albeit with pet-sitting duties, but Abby being smitten, she agrees.
They leave for Harperâs parents the following morning, and in the middle of the ride, Harper admits something: She lied about coming out to her parents the summer prior. This is the main conflict throughout the movieâfor the duration of their stay, Abby and Harper must stay at Harperâs family house, pretending not to be lovers.
Itâs not the easiest premiseâIâve seen a lot of reviews pointing to this conflict as the main reason why they were unable to enjoy the movie (more on this later). But the ensemble makes it all worth it: Mary Steenburgen and Victor Garber as Harperâs parents Tipper and Ted, Alison Brie and Mary Holland as Harperâs sisters Sloane and Jane, Dan Levy as Abbyâs friend John, and this movieâs scene-stealer: Aubrey Plaza as Riley, Harperâs ex-girlfriend (more on her later.)
As it turns out, Harperâs father Ted is in the middle of his campaign as their townâs Mayor, hence reputation is key. Harper, a journalist, is the apple of her fatherâs eyeâa position she is unwilling to give up, as she is in a competition with her elder sister Sloane, who is married with twin children (who are both terrifying).
To be honest, the whole hiding from parents thing kind of chafesâwe spent majority of the film being anxious they would get caught, considering that Harperâs mother put them in separate rooms (âI wouldnât let grown women share a bed!â OH GOD) and Abbyâs room in the basement had no lock and all. (You guys! Have you ever tried holding off your parents at the door! Trying to buy time for the girl whoâs naked in your bed to get fucking dressed! Which is a weirdly specific shared experience for many, amirite!)
But the ensemble saves it. Dan Levy as John, Abbyâs pragmatic gay friend has the best one-liners, as well as the best âListen this is importantâ monologue that had me a bit teary, while Mary Holland as Jane, Harperâs quirky artistic sister, really shines as the familyâs sorta black sheepâan outsider in most senses of the word, but âthe only one who could get the Internet working in this houseâ.
Which brings us to Aubrey Plazaâs character, Riley, whom Harper and Abby first run into at a restaurant, while trying to salvage a disastrous family dinner (to which Harperâs mom also invited Harperâs âcanon exâ a.k.a. ex-boyfriend Connorâthe only ex acknowledged by Harper to her parents, because of course.)
The whole thing with Connor also chafes, by the wayâit was so hard to root for Harper when she does so many problematic things. Connor asks her outright if their breakup had been about âsomething elseâ and Harper lies to his face about being into girls, which broke my heart in Abbyâs behalf.
After a terrible shoplifting misencounter at the mall, Abby gets shut out of a family dinner for the sake of reputation. While out on a walk, Abby runs into Riley, whom she asks about âwhere to get alcohol in this place,â which is a truly roundabout way of asking someone, specifically your closeted girlfriendâs ex-girlfriend, out for a drink.
Riley takes her to a gay barâof course, she does. And I donât know if itâs intentional, or if itâs just the chemistry between Aubrey Plaza and Kristen Stewart, but this scene Made Us Feel Something. (cue: the 1 by Taylor Swift, the long pond studio sessions version)
Abby and Riley find common ground over Harper, as expected, and we find out what actually went down between Riley and Harper: Once upon a time, they were a thing, until Harper had to defend her reputation by outing Riley and effectively ruining a significant part of her young adulthood.
I like Riley; itâs hard not to at least be sympathetic. Sheâs a successful doctor (which probably explains her singlehood), but for all she has achieved, some people would still zero in on her âlifestyle choiceâ like itâs a bad thing. And sheâs made her peace with that.
I really like the dynamic she has with Abby; not sure if itâs the writersâ intention to put it on a borderline flirty area, or if they wanted it to be a bro thing (honestly, lesbians need lesbian friends who werenât their exes, too?) or if thatâs just how C and I are reading into it (lol) but goddamn that bar scene Was Something.
At that moment, a bit pissed already at how Harper was handling all of this badly (and she knew her girlfriend already has some serious Christmas-related trauma! How fucking inconsiderate to pile on! is what Iâm saying) I was already kinda rooting for Abby and Riley to ~Work. I was only further incensed to find out that Abby left Riley to join Harper with her terrible girl friends who never even acknowledged her and Connor.
the audacity, ladies and gents. Me, seething in the middle of a lesbian holiday rom-com. Only lesbians, smh.
At some point, it becomes so unbearable for Abby that she practically ends it with Harper in the middle of Christmas and packs her things. To which Harper tries a last-minute intervention: âIâm not hiding you, Iâm hiding me!â
Which tugs, admittedly. In my preoccupation with sympathizing with Abby and her hardship over this particularly torturous holiday, Iâve been completely blind re: Harperâs own struggle: Just because sheâs the one at fault here mostly, doesnât mean she isnât suffering, too.
It doesnât excuse any of it, but it does put things in context. John says it best: Harper not coming out to her parents has nothing to do with her love for you. Which is true. Everybodyâs coming out story is different; itâs a timely reminder that just because my own parents cared little about me being in relationships with women doesnât mean I get to dismiss other peopleâs hardships coming out to theirs.
Harper has this Big Speech where she admits, after brawling with Sloane and destroying Janeâs painting (-1,000pts Harper!!) in the middle of the living room in front of a roomful of her parentsâ guests, that alas, sheâs gay. Unfortunately, for Abby, it is too late. She drives off with John (who drove all the way from the city to take her out of the house), only to be pursued by Harper.
Iâm unsatisfied as to how they chose to handle the ending, but itâs what giving it the Full Holiday treatment entails: Thereâs a Great Speech, A Great Apology, and A Kiss. Does it qualify as a Happy Ending? Of course. Abby gets included in the Christmas Day photo (which was a totally heartwarming gesture) taken by John, and the closing credits feature a yearâs worth of Instagram updates from Tipper: Ted eventually wins the election despite turning down a big albeit conservative donorâs money in exchange for Harper staying in the closet (+1,000pts Ted!!), the family eventually joins the Pride Parade as allies, and eventually Harper and Abby get engaged around Christmas the following year.
Is it a satisfying ending? Well, maybe, though playful minds have been suggesting that Abby should have ended up with Riley instead, and maybe just run into Harper at the Pride Parade later for some closure. Lesbians like their complicated plots; I still get hate mail for some of mine (lmao).
That said, Happiest Seasonâs story is straightforward (pun unintended), and it employs tropes traditionally reserved for het couples on-screen (Harperâs scene at the end where she tries to stop Abby at the gas station felt a lot like a Paul Rudd scene, if you get what I mean) and I love it for that.
It has its problematic momentsâwhy in the world would you have your girlfriendâs ex-girlfriendâs number?? for exampleâbut it doesnât stop the movie from being engaging and yes, enjoyable. Weâd probably rewatch it, too. I disagree with the sentiment that we should stop making movies with coming out as a conflictâwhy the hell not? Itâs unique for everyone, as mentionedâhence there are more stories to be told, Iâm sure. (Iâm still waiting for a Four Sisters and a Wedding-esque local wlw movie with lesbians meeting the parents for the first timeâthat would be a riot)
I do, however, think that yes, we are ready for more stories, other than coming out. Something to look forward to, definitely. And so we live in hope.
Related readings
Short and sweet review from the New York Times: Make the Yuletide Gay
This Autostraddle roundtable: Yikes, Harper! Wooowwww, Aubrey Plaza!
This one via CBR: Riley has one of the most important arcs in the movie - I would argue that so much additional conflict was avoided precisely because Riley is mostly a put-together lesbian! Imagine the chaos she would have been very capable of inflicting!
And before I wrap this up, here have a super cut of Riley looking amazing:
Thank you for making it this far. Happy weekend!
XO,
K