It’s that time of year again, and even though its only November, Christmas movies are starting to be released as everyone puts up their tree and starts counting down the days. Now I’m not normally a fan of Christmas films nor am I really fan of rom-coms either, so, as you can imagine, I was very pleasantly surprised by how good Happiest Season is and by how much heart this film has.
Happiest Season follows Abby (Kristen Stewart) who plans to propose to her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) on Christmas at her parents’ annual holiday party but things don’t quite go to plan when Abby learns that Harper hasn’t come out yet to her parents. Abby and Harper have to pretend to just be friends to Harper’s family which creates problems for the couple.
The whole film is full of charm and joy but it also contains a lot of substance, which is very refreshing for a Christmas rom-com. At the film’s heart is Abby and Harper’s relationship, perfectly captured by the performances from Stewart and Davis. Stewart shows the frustration she feels about keeping Harper’s secret so well and she manages to shine in both the comedic scenes but also in the dramatic and sensitive scenes as well. Davis is very good too, but it does feel much more like Abby’s film than Harper’s. Whilst the film is anchored by Stewart and Davis, the supporting cast is filled with great actors; Alison Brie is so much fun as Harper’s older sister Sloane and Schitt’s Creek’s Daniel Levy is on great form as Abby’s best friend John. Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen and Victor Garber also shine and provide lots more heart and laughter to the film.
As well as the impressive cast, the writing from Clea DuVall (who also directed) is really good too, with the film providing so many great quotable moments and many moments that made me laugh out loud. But the film also feels really tender and human as well and DuVall manages to juggle the comedic and sensitive scenes of the film really well and she handles the lesbian relationship at the film’s centre very well. Happiest Season can definitely join the list of fun, worthy Christmas rom-coms.
It’s just a lovely film and you can’t help but smile and laugh along with which is just what you’d expect from a nice straightforward Christmas film but Happiest Season has much more to offer than that as it grapples with ideas about sexuality and acceptance and family, thus creating a film with a lot of meaning and a lot of heart. For the first half of the film, it did feel a little bit generic and there was nothing too special about it as it shifts between some rather OTT comedy and trying to set up some really emotional and sincere moments but it was in the final act where the film really hit the mark and it really went somewhere and achieved something really strong and powerful.
Overall, Happiest Season is a nice, fun Christmas film with heartfelt performances and a great message that leaves you with that warm, bubbly feeling that you expect from a Christmas film.
3.5/5
Happiest Season is available on Hulu or available to rent or buy in many other countries now.
Lawrence’s character portrays the “ne’er-do-well” who answers a Craigslist ad that was placed to hire a date for an introverted and socially awkward teen boy, by his mother and father, who also just so happens to be preparing for college soon.
Jennifer Lawrence, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Natalie Morales
Plot Summary:
Lawrence’s character portrays the “ne’er-do-well” who answers a Craigslist ad that was placed to hire a date for an introverted and socially awkward teen boy, by his mother and father, who also just so happens to be preparing for college soon.
Everyone’s favorite girl group is returning for more adventures, this time with a girl’s trip to West Africa. Variety exclusively learned in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival with Girls Trip co-writer Tracy Oliver that a sequel is officially a go with the foursome headed to Ghana. Oliver was in Sundance promoting the second season of her Amazon series, Harlem.
Variety also confirmed that all the original cast members are set to return so look forward to seeing Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah back on the big screen together soon. One of the stars of Harlem, Shoniqua Shandai yelled “Afrochella!” upon hearing the breaking news referring to Ghana’s major culture and music festival. Oliver later confirmed that the production was looking to head to the African festival for the sequel and implied that her script is due any day now.
The female-centric comedy Girls Trip was a big box-office hit grossing $140 million on a very modest $16 million budget. Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Space Jam: A New Legacy) directed the first feature on a script from Oliver and Kenya Barris (black-Ish, You People). The movie also launched comedian Tiffany Haddish into stardom putting her at the top of many casting directors lists for comedic and dramatic work.
Tracy Oliver has been one of the most consistent black writers in Hollywood in recent years; in addition to scripting the Girls Trip films and Harlem, Oliver scripted the upcoming horror comedy, The Blackening starring Jay Pharaoh, Yvonne Orji and Jermaine Fowler.
Many were surprised when the Season 2 finale of Hulu comedy, Only Murders in the Building revealed that Paul Rudd would be joining the series for its upcoming season, however, it seems his casting may have just been topped. According to a tweet from the show’s Twitter account, it appears that Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep (Out of Africa, August: Osage County) will join the cast led by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez for Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building.
One can believe that Streep stumbled into the series similar to how she did for Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies. With the latter show, Streep was a fan of the mysterious female-led drama and was written into the sophomore season. You wouldn’t be hard pressed to believe that Streep was probably a fan of the beloved comedy series and might want to join in the hijinks along with friends, Steve Martin and Martin Short. Streep will also appear in the upcoming AppleTV+ anthology series, Extrapolations in March.
The original tweet revealed that the third season of Only Murders in the Building has just begun filming. The show has been nominated for tons of awards thus far and with growing popularity as well as the additions of Streep and Rudd to the cast, anything can happen in the murder mystery program. Season 2 released back in June so we can probably expect Season 3 to begin streaming in Summer 2023.