Review: 'Happiest Season' is a warm and smart Christmas rom-com, with an LGBTQ twist

If things had gone according to plan, before the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed every shred of the Hollywood release schedule, “Happiest Season” would have been a groundbreaking film: The first Christmas rom-com from a major studio whose main couple is gay.

Even without the baggage of movie history, as a gem waiting to be discovered on Hulu, “Happiest Season” is a delightful romantic comedy — and proof that the old formula works, whatever the character’s sexual orientation.

Abby (Kristen Stewart) doesn’t love Christmas — it’s when her parents died 10 years earlier — but she loves Harper (Mackenzie Davis). They’ve been dating about a year, and living together since September (as shown in the Hallmark-esque artwork that depicts the relationship over the opening credits). After a romantic night together in December, Harper impulsively invites Abby to share Christmas with her family upstate, and Abby eagerly accepts.

As Abby explains to her sassy gay best friend, John (Dan Levy, from “Schitt’s Creek”), she plans to propose to Harper on Christmas morning — after asking Harper’s dad for his blessing, because Abby’s old-fashioned like that. The plan runs into an obstacle on the drive over, when Harper informs Abby that she’s never come out to her family. What’s more, Harper asks Abby to keep the secret, and pretend to be straight, until Harper can muster up the courage to come out, after the holidays.

When Abby meets Harper’s family, she gets a fuller picture of the dynamic. Her conservative father, Ted (Victor Garber), is a city councilman contemplating a run for mayor — a move endorsed by his control-freak wife, Tipper (Mary Steenburgen). Abby also meets Harper’s older sister, Sloane (Alison Brie), and discovers the sisters have a long-running competition for their father’s affection. 

Also informing Abby’s view of her girlfriend is the re-emergence of two of Harper’s high-school exes: Connor (Jake McDornan), whom Harper dated publicly, and Riley (Aubrey Plaza), Harper’s first lesbian crush — and perhaps the sharpest observer of Abby’s frustration over Harper’s unwillingness to come out to her family.

Director Clea DuVall has tackled similar thorny family dynamics in her 2016 debut, “The Intervention,” and knows how to gently but firmly prod her characters into awkward and funny situations. DuVall’s secret weapon is her co-writer, Mary Holland, who also steals the show as Harper’s oddball younger sister, Jane.

Stewart isn’t the most natural of comic actors, so DuVall smartly deploys her as the (forgive the term) straight woman, the calm observer of the family craziness going on around her. Stewart also brings the drama when needed, particularly in scenes with Davis, as Abby questions whether she wants to marry somebody who can’t declare her love openly.

There are plenty of laughs, ranging from subtle jabs at manners to full-out slapstick, and a powerhouse comic cast led by Holland, Brie, Levy, Plaza, Garber and particularly Steenburgen, who takes passive-aggressive mothering to a new level.

“Happiest Season” deserves to join the pantheon of Christmas romantic comedies, because it’s fun, witty, and as sweet as gingerbread. And in Stewart and Davis, it has a romantic couple only a Grinch wouldn’t want to see together in the final shot.

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‘Happiest Season’

★★★1/2

Available starting Wednesday, November 25, for streaming on Hulu. Rated PG-13 for some language. Running time: 102 minutes.