Kristen Stewart’s lesbian festive rom-com Happiest Season is finally here and all our Christmases just came early
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis in Happiest Season. (Hulu)
Happiest Season, Kristen Stewart’s lesbian Christmas film, has finally been released and it’s everything we ever dreamed of.
News that Kristen Stewart had made a queer festive film directed and co-written by Clea DuVall was arguably the single most important piece of information many of us learned this year.
With feverish anticipation came a slight sense of nervousness that such a film could never deliver on its astounding promise: to deliver the “gay Christmas rom-com” Stewart (and the rest of us) has spent a lifetime waiting for.
Though coronavirus derailed its planned cinematic release, the rom-com was saved by Hulu and is now available to stream in the US. And fortunately for us all, it’s everything we needed it to be.
Current sexuality #HappiestSeason pic.twitter.com/rbvAj90Ngk
— Nic (@CloneNic) November 26, 2020
Stewart plays Abby, who is accompanying her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) to her family Christmas party, where she plans to propose.
https://twitter.com/avatarofasami/status/1331791274597224448
Only, as she soon discovers, Harper isn’t out to her conservative parents.
Harper : "Remember, my parents don't know you're gay and they must not find out."
Abby : "They won't I promise."#HappiestSeason pic.twitter.com/b9h8pp6m63— Monsieur B (@trucsenserie) November 25, 2020
Aubrey Plaza stars as Riley, an ex-girlfriend of Davis’ character Harper. And although writer Clea DuVall clearly wants viewers to root for Abby and Harper, the chemistry between Abby and Riley is undeniable.
https://twitter.com/oideadboyfriend/status/1331744286895992834
I was REALLY unprepared for the Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza of it all in Happiest Season and I haven't fully recovered #HappiestSeason pic.twitter.com/uhO52h0Txe— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) November 26, 2020
i'm only watching happiest season for her https://t.co/a6DdeV1zoi— ash (@paulson4ever) November 26, 2020
Dan Levy also stars as Abby’s friend John, who frankly can do no wrong.
I love Dan Levy with my whole entire heart #HappiestSeason pic.twitter.com/77bmuKq3JJ
— Abs (@kindaab4) November 25, 2020
Fans quickly declared the film a new Christmas classic, and reviewers were in agreement.
Little White Lies called it “an earnest, endearing story about the pressure we put on ourselves to perform perfection”, with Entertainment Weekly hailing it a “smart, heartfelt comedy whose small flaws are easily blotted out by bigger charms”.
“Happiest Season is a three-for-one bargain,” wrote the New York Times. “It’s set during Christmas, it’ll release over Thanksgiving, and in keeping with Halloween, it’s a monster movie about the horrors that can arise when socialising with straight people.”
Happiest Season cast.
The film takes place at what, for many, is an all-too-familiar family home fraught with festive tension.
Victor Garber is family patriarch Ted. A conservative, he is running for mayor of their hometown and as such, is the reason Harper feels she can’t come out.
Mary Steenburgen is his wife and Harper’s mother Tipper, a pushy WASP obsessed with painting a the perfect family portrait on her manicured Instagram feed.
The starry cast also features Alison Brie as Harper’s passive-aggressive sister Sloane and Burl Moseley as her husband Eric, with another sister, the absurd fantasy novelist Jane, played by co-writer Mary Holland.
How to watch Happiest Season in the UK.
Sadly, the pandemic put paid to Happiest Season’s UK theatrical release, but fear not!
Although Hulu isn’t available in the UK, the film is available to rent or buy in the UK from services such as iTunes.
Sky Cinema and NowTV viewers will also be able to stream Happiest Season from 18 December.
How to watch Happiest Season in the US.
The film is now available to stream on Hulu.
