Happiest Season is a Christmas set romantic comedy directed by Claire Duvall. The plot sees Harper (Mackenzie Davis), bring her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart), home for Christmas with her family. However, Harper has not told her family that she is a lesbian, nor has she told them about her and Abby’s relationship, so the two are placed into an awkward situation.

I have been looking forward to this one for a while, it was the only new Christmas film this year that I was genuinely excited for, okay maybe Princess Switch 2 as well a little, which makes this all the harder to write. Yes, before I get into the review I will acknowledge that in terms of representation this film is a big step forward, it is certainly the first big, well promoted, LGBTQ+ Christmas film I have ever seen. It is nice to see a Christmas rom com from a non-straight, perspective; hopefully this will be the first of many in Hollywood. That said lets get into why I didn’t like the film.

This to me did not fee like a romantic comedy, hell if anything it felt like a tragedy. The key relationship between Harper and Abby is deeply toxic, Harper outed one of her friends in high school to divert from people finding out that she was a lesbian, and she also treats Abby like absolute dog shit for most of the film; even going so far as to reject her in the films climax. With all that said, I was left infuriated when the two ended up together at the end, they shouldn’t have, Abby deserved better. By showing this ending it almost goes so far as to say Harper’s abusive behaviour is fine or at least not as bad because look they still ended up together.

Moreover, this film wastes it wider, very talented supporting cast. The only character in this film that felt like a real human person was Abby, Kristen Stewart’s performance made me feel something, we the audience felt bonded to her throughout her experience. The same can’t really be said for Davis, who is frequently played as the film’s antagonist, at least that is how I read it, which makes it even more problematic that they ended up together. Additionally, Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza are both in this film and though they each have one pivotal scene for the most part they don’t really do much and their talents are left pretty much wasted.

Overall, if this film had ended with them not together, and this was a comment on toxic relationships and looking out for yourself and loving those who truly love you, then I would have given it higher. However, as is, I find it almost condones emotionally abusive relationships and presents them as normal.

Pros.

Stewart

There are a few funny moments

Cons.

The ending

Having them survive as a couple

Wasting the ensemble

Normalising abuse

2/5

Reviewed by Luke    

Holiday In The Wild is a Christmas based romantic comedy film directed by Ernie Barbarash. We go on a deeply personal journey as we follow Kate (Kristen Davis), a woman who is dumped by her husband the second her son goes off to college. Now with nothing to do Kate has to rediscover her passions, as such she goes to Africa to become a vet to elephants. Of course this leads to romance.

So, recently I have been through several of these Netflix Christmas films and to a large degree they all blend together. However, with that in mind I found myself enjoying this one more than the others. I think it was purely the charm of Rob Lowe.

I enjoyed the romance of this film. I found it to be handled well and with care, I enjoyed seeing these two broken people, cliché I know, come together, and open themselves up to each other. I thought the leads had strong on-screen chemistry together, which in turn made their romance believable.

Another thing I will give this film props for over Netflix’s other Christmas output is that the drama felt organic to the story and not shoe horned in. Too often both Christmas films and rom coms in generally will have very blatant artificial drama forced in for no real story purpose other than for the couple to have something to overcome, this is a hallmark of a poorly written script. However, in this case the drama makes sense and feels necessary for the story.

Overall, though this won’t be winning any awards any time soon, it is quite charming, and the romance is sweet enough to keep you invested.

Pros.

The plot and it’s structure

The romance

Rob Lowe

Cons.

Cliché ridden

Incredibly generic

3/5

Reviewed by Luke  

Christmas Made To Order is a Christmas film directed by Sam Irvin. The plot sees overly stressed architect Stephen (Johnathan Bennett), hire the free spirited, Christmas loving Gretchen (Alexa Penavega), to decorate his home for the arrival of his perfectionist family as you can imagine a romance blooms.

So, this is yet another generic Hallmark rom-com Christmas film; the kind that litters Netflix this time of year. However, where this improves on something like Operation Christmas Drop (Review coming soon), is that the romance actually feels warm and wholesome rather than cold and detached.

This is down in no small part to Penavega, who though she isn’t a big-name actor is slumming it a bit here, but hey we all need an easy pay check here and there. Penavega, is the life and soul of this film and her character’s love of Christmas comes off and authentic, which in turns makes it infectious.

My main and most obvious issue with this film would be that it runs the risk and indeed is overly sentimental. For the most part it is just the right levels of wholesome and sweet, but sometimes it goes a bit too far. The idea of this relationship is already beyond plausibility in a lot of ways, but this just pushes it further.

Overall, it is inoffensive holiday fluff, made better by Penavega and the wholesome charm.

Pros.

Penavega

The romance

It is comforting and fairly inoffensive

Cons.

It is a bit too mushy

It is very average

It has no real plot
2.5/5

Reviewed by Luke   

Christmas Land is a Christmas romantic comedy directed by Sam Irvin. The plot sees a busy big city woman Jules (Nikki Deloach), inherit her Grandmothers Christmas themed farm, there is a debate as to whether she will sell it or not, but deep down she knows what her Grandmother would want.

So these generic Netflix/Hallmark/CBS Christmas films are starting to get to me. They are all very much the same in story and nature and you can guess the reveals coming from a mile off. I can no longer find things to enjoy about these films as they are just so tediously average.

The romance in this one was particularly wooden, sometimes these types of films can be made slightly more bearable by a strong lead romance, but not this. The two romantic leads act like strangers for most of the film and then all of a sudden they love each other at the end? Come on really? I can’t quite come up with the right word to describe their relationship, but whatever the opposite of chemistry is that is what they have.

The drama here once again, did not feel organic to the story it felt forced. That could be said for pretty much everything in these films, but this one especially had no need for the drama plotline beats, it added nothing and only served to needlessly complicate the narrative.

Pros.

It is watchable

Cons.

It is generic

It is lazy

The romance doesn’t work

The drama adds nothing

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke