My Review of "Happiest Season"

Happiest Season is a surprise romantic comedy that came out late in 2020. I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did. For many it would look like a movie about a lesbian couple trying to find the right time to come out of the closet to the family. Instead I think it's a more than that and I believe a lot of us can actually relate to this movie.

The movie starts off with Abby and Harper. They are a loving couple trying to take in the holiday season. Harper is going to go back home to her family while Abby is going to stay home to take care of some animals. We soon discover that Abby has been traumatized by the holidays as that's when her parents had passed away. Harper wants Abby to have the same love for the holidays as she does so out of a whim she asks Abby to come meet her family for the holidays. Abby is reluctant at first but ultimately agrees.

As the two are driving to Harper's family home it's discovered that Harper had never told her parents that she's a lesbian for fear of ruining her dad's reputation during a crucial election year. She promises to Abby that she will tell her parents after the holidays.

When the two get to Harper's home they disguise Abby as Harper's hetero orphan roommate. There's a few laughs at this as they treat Abby so strange while you can tell they're trying their best to be nice.

Harper's father is trying to run for mayor and this puts a damper on Harper's plans on telling her parents for fear it might affect his campaign again. Soon we discover that Harper is her father's favorite as he highlights her over her other two sisters. It's incredibly cruel what this family does to the other two siblings.

Pretty soon we discover that Harper isn't as sweet as we think she is. She becomes this new person as she's assuming this hetero persona. It's sort of as if she's the cool kid at some high school. We also learn that she's hurt other people in the town because of her façade to please her parents.

Abby soon discovers that maybe this isn't the trip that she was expecting. Maybe she shouldn't have come in the first place.

There are a few standout characters in this movie. I particularly like the middle sister Jane. She's such a loving character but is lost in the family as she's the middle child with nothing to make her standout. I love how she tries so hard at everything. She's accepting of everyone and tries to do the right thing. It's just so hard seeing the family treat her the way they do. They definitely make her feel invisible and in a way it's kind of funny but sad at the same time.

I also felt so bad for Abby. The amount of crap that they put her through in this movie I almost couldn't take it. She was the real Charlie Brown in this movie. At some points I was like, you got to get out of there! No one should be treated this way!

Abby's friend John was also pretty hilarious. He's the guy that Abby has looking after the animals while she's away at Harper's for the holidays. In addition to neglecting the animals he's also Abby's support line. He does a pretty good job in keeping the movie going sometimes too.

The whole crew of actors did a fantastic job in giving life to their characters. It really felt like a good holiday movie. There was something familiar with this movie as well as new elements that we never really see. I like how they used the lesbian perspective to talk about the age old pursuit of pleasing our parents.

A lot of movies generally go in a good versus evil attempt at storytelling because it's easy to convey who is right and who is wrong. They tried to put a little bit of a mix in there to say that sometimes it's not so easy to say something is absolutely wrong because everyone has their own experiences. Those experiences may not be the same experiences as ours but it's theirs to discover and deal with. I like that they got that message out in this movie.

Overall, I thought this was a nice new angle to the romcom genre. It was definitely a pleasant and entertaining surprise. There's a lot to like about it. I have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. It's definitely a movie that I would have to tell people to watch because I know they might not think much of it from first glance.