Season of Love
By: Susan Brittain
Last year, Tello Films made the first lesbian (or gay for that matter) holiday film ever! It certainly didn’t get the fanfare that Happiest Season (which I haven’t seen yet) is getting this year. However, it’s worth a look. The film is based around three couples finding love between Christmas and New Year’s. Dominique Provost-Chalkley (Everyone’s favorite angel on Wynonna Earp!), Jessica Clark (A Perfect Ending), and Emily Goss (Snapshots) star. The stories of each couple intertwine throughout the film.
The film opens with Iris (Goss) on her wedding day. Her bridesmaids, Lou (Clark), and Janey (Janelle Marie Rodriguez) are trying to comfort Iris as her fiancé, Theo (Carlin James), has dumped her for reasons you will find out later in the film. Theo’s sister, Mardou (Laur Allen), is the wedding planner who is secretly in love with Iris.
The other two couples are Sue (Provost-Chalkley), a singer/songwriter and Janey (Rodriguez) who is in the military. They haven’t seen each other in six months until Janey is able to get stationed back in LA. Sue is part of a group that performs locally. She plays the guitar but has extreme anxiety about singing in front of a live audience. She is also taking care of her mum who has cancer. Amid all this, Janey secretly records Sue signing and puts it on the Internet. Of course, it goes viral, and she begins getting contract offers. Sue is furious with Janey and breaks up with her. You’ll have to watch the film to see how this particular story line is resolved.
Lou (Clark) brews beer and is knee deep in planning the opening of her brewery. She hires two welders, Charlie (Matthew Bridges) and Kenna (Sandra Mae Frank), who are also Lou’s neighbors. The first time Lou sees Kenna she falls hard but finds Kenna aloof. When they show up to work in the brewery, at first Lou doesn’t want them because of how Kenna has acted towards her. She quickly finds out that Kenna is deaf and that she and Charlie aren’t a couple--they’re both gay! Lou begins to learn sign language to communicate with Kenna and has some hilarious moments when she unknowingly signs bitch instead of beer and tells everyone that Kenna is her lesbian!
Meanwhile, Iris and Theo had been planning a Christmas Party at their place for their honeymoon. Mardou convinces Iris to go ahead with the party, which finally brings all the couples together under one roof. Iris and Mardou have been spending a lot of time together having fun and trying to resist the sexual tension between them. When Theo shows up to apologize to Iris, her feelings are conflicted especially when Mardou leaves to stay at her former lover’s place. Again, you’ll have to watch the film to see how this situation is resolved.
When I first saw this film last year, I wasn’t that crazy about it. I thought it moved too slowly and was rather contrived. Watching it again this year, I’ve changed my mind. I still think it’s a bit too long, but the story lines make more sense to me now, and I found I was really rooting for all the couples to make it.
While this was the first lesbian rom-com, it seems everyone has gotten on the bandwagon now producing gay and lesbian holiday films--Hulu, Netflix, Hallmark, etc. Here are a few other suggestions for your holidays viewing pleasure.
A New York Christmas Wedding (Netflix)--As her wedding nears, a bride-to-be is visited by an angel who reveals what could have been if she’d followed her feelings for her childhood best friend.
Happiest Season (Hulu)--A woman learns that her girlfriend hasn’t come out to her conservative parents, and she’s going home for the holidays to meet them! (I’ll be reviewing this next month.)
Let It Snow (Netflix) - I really tried to like this film, but I couldn’t. I’m an older lesbian, and these young folks were just too much for me! If you saw it, what did you think?
What’s Cooking (Amazon Prime) - This is an ensemble piece that stars Kyra Sedgewick and Julianna Margulies as a long- term lesbian couple coming home for Thanksgiving. The film is a bit dated (1990’s) but worth watching.
Lez Bomb (Amazon Prime) - A closeted woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, only to have her coming-out efforts thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate. This film is hilarious and well worth watching.
What do you think? Let me know in the Comments.