Happiest Season
Clea DuVall (2020)
3.5 STARS
With a plethora of ‘meet the parents’ comedies to choose from at this time of year, Happiest Season makes a good argument to be the film you choose to reflect on and distract from your own family dynamic. Abby (Kristen Stewart) finds herself back in the closet, quite literally at one self-aware point, as she attempts to make it through the yule-tide season supporting her girlfriend, who hasn’t yet told her family who she really is. A festive soundtrack, that strays from the songs on repeat in supermarkets every year, masterly accompany brilliant performances from the whole cast with the on-the-nose seasonal drama.
The elephant in the room is this; the ending is wrong. Yes, the final shots will bring a smile to your face as you watch the characters you have grown to love, laugh, open presents and generally shower each other with affection. But she ends up with the wrong woman. Straying from its trajectory, the film loses its courage and gives in to tradition. Abby (Kristen Stewart) has a choice to make, a choice that the integrity of the whole feature hinges upon and, she lets us down. This is still a pleasing, easy, charming watch, but it could have been better; it could have been magical.