Happiest Season
By: Susan Brittain
Happiest Season opens with couple Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (MacKenzie Davis) taking a Christmas house tour with a tour guide that loves to tell less than savory details about each house, Christmas tree deaths, etc. Abby is not into Christmas as her parents were killed over the holidays when she was 19. Harper pulls her out of the tour, and they climb some scaffolding to sit on the roof of a house that has an amazing view of Pittsburgh. Hilarity ensues when the owners of the house realize someone is on their roof. You’ll have to see the film to see what happens!
It’s a magical night for the couple, and in a moment of passion, Harper invites Abby to come home with her for Christmas to meet her family. (They’ve been dating for six months.) The next morning, she tries to back track, but Abby’s having none of it. She had planned to pet sit over the holidays, but she’s been able to talk her friend, John (Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek) into doing it for her. As they’re driving to Harper’s parent’s house, Harper tells Abby she never told her parents about them being a couple. They are conservative, and her dad is running for mayor. Harper talks Abby in to pretend they’re roommates for the five days they will be there. After all, it’s five days, what could go wrong!!
Before they leave, Abby picks up an engagement ring she bought for Harper. Her plan is to propose over the holiday after asking Harper’s father for her hand in marriage. John goes with her and keeps up a running tirade on being heteronormative, perpetuating an outdated institution, and asking for Harper’s hand as if she were property. I love Dan Levy! I’m not sure anyone else would have been able pull this tirade off!
When they arrive at Harper’s parents, Abby is introduced to mother, Tipper (Mary Steenburgen), father, Ted (Victor Garber, Legends of Tomorrow), sister, Jane (Mary Holland), the black sheep of the family who has to be on the autism spectrum somewhere!, sister, Sloane (Alison Brie), who is married to Eric (Burl Moseley), and has twins who are very hard to like. Harper’s family refers to Abby as an orphan when they introduce her and spout platitudes about the situation--“There, there” and such.
Tipper puts Harper and Abby in separate rooms since two grown women don’t want to share a room! Abby is put in Jane’s old room in the basement which doesn’t have a door lock because Jane was afraid her parents would lock her in one day and forget about her. Not having a door that can be locked makes for some interesting situations, especially when the twins stare down Abby the first morning, ask her who she is, and behave like brats during most of the entire visit.
Tipper, unbeknownst to Harper, invites her old boyfriend, Connor, to dinner their first night in town. (See a theme here with Tipper?!) Harper hasn’t told Abby much about Connor, so imagine her surprise when she learns that Conner went on summer vacation with them practically all of Harper’s childhood. (See a theme here with Harper?!). During this same dinner, Harper runs in to her old girlfriend, Riley (Aubrey Plaza), while she and Abby are stealing a moment in the bathroom. When they come back to the table, Tipper spots Riley and alludes to her “alternative lifestyle” which hasn’t made her parents happy.
The next day, we learn that Sloane and Harper are extremely competitive. They all go ice skating, and Sloane challenges Harper to a race. They are cutthroat--they knock people down, they cheat, and they insist on being timed to see which one is the fastest. Abby sees a side of Harper she’s never seen before and isn’t sure she likes.
There’s also a running gag about getting a family Christmas picture. The first try, Tipper asks Abby to take the picture, then tells her it’s blurry. The second time, the twins refuse to be in the picture, and on and on.
Another morning, Abby accompanies Sloan and the twins to the mall to get a White Elephant gift for the Christmas party Harper’s parents are throwing. Remember earlier I told you about what brats the twins were to Abby. This time they slip a piece of jewelry into Abby’s bag which sets off the alarm as they leave. Abby is taken in by the security guards who are so inept no one can take them seriously. Of course, now Abby has embarrassed the family, and they think she’s a thief.
Abby isn’t invited to dinner the next night, so she goes by herself to a café then runs in to Riley on her way out. Riley takes Abby to a drag club where she tells Abby the real reason why she and Harper broke up. Yet another thing Harper hasn’t told the truth about. I don’t want to give what happened away, but it’s a pivotal moment in the film.
Abby tries to hang with Harper and her friends later in the evening, but she feels like a fish out of water. Harper is supposed to text Abby when she gets in, but she hangs out with Conner until the wee hours of the morning, which makes Abby jealous and confused. She phones John and asks him to come get her. He arrives just in time for the Christmas party and pretends to be Abby’s heterosexual boyfriend! (Can you imagine Dan Levy playing heterosexual?!)
Just prior to the Christmas party, Sloane catches Harper and Abby kissing which gives Sloane ammunition for their parents. However, on the way up to the party from the basement, Harper hears noises behind one of the doors and catches Sloane’s husband with one of their family’s friends. It seems Sloane and Eric are separated, but Sloane didn’t want to tell the family since it would reflect badly on her. Armed with these secrets, Sloane outs Harper to her parents, which she quickly denies, and Harper tells her family about Sloane’s separation. All hell breaks loose, and Abby and John retreat to pack Abby’s bags to leave. You’ll have to see the film to see what happens between Harper and Abby.
Happiest Season is a cute film that is just right for these COVID times. If you can suspend your disbelief about some of the things that happen during the film, I think you’ll get a laugh and maybe some wisdom from the film.
Interestingly, there has been a controversy around this film as to whether Abby should wind up with Harper or Riley. Let me know who you think she should wind up with in the comments below.