On  Nov. 25, Hulu released the new Christmas romantic comedy movie, “The Happiest Season,” starring Kristen Stewart and Makenzie Davis. The film captures emotions that relate to wanting acceptance, being yourself, living up to the hard expectations of parents, and trying to make the best of Christmas.

The movie is about Harper Caldwell and Abby Holland spending Christmas with Harper’s family, the problem is that Harper did tell her family she is gay. As Abby tries to impress her girlfriend’s family she ends up hurt by Harper’s behavior. When Abby realizes this she starts doubting if Harper loves her or not. The reason Harper did not want to come out was that she did not want to be abandoned by her family.  As the movie progresses, the ending is truly shocking with several turns of events.

The representation of the LGBTQ+ community is typically uncommon in a Christmas rom-com. It shows that homosexual couples are no different than straight couples, and touches on the concept of wanting to be accepted in a society that, despite being more progressive than previous years, is not as accepting as one would hope it to be. People who are in the closet can relate to Harper’s fear of not being accepted because when coming out the one thing that is sought is acceptance by others close to them, but there is also the doubt of not being accepted and being shut out from everyone they love and care for.

As much as the movie was enjoyable, there were certain elements that do not make the movie amazing. The plot of the movie is very twisted and does not make much sense when putting thought to it, and the ending seemed to be pretty rushed. Although like most Christmas movies, it had a happy ending, after watching the movie a feeling of something missing still lingers for a while.

Overall, this film is very heartwarming and can make the audience sympathize with what Abby and Harper go through. Although Harper did hide her sexuality, she was scared of her parents not being able to accept her for who she is.  The representation the movie has makes it unique in every single way, even if there are a couple issues with the plot and how the story was written. This film is undoubtedly something others will enjoy watching and will want to keep watching each year for the holidays.