Aubrey Plaza | Screenlife Reviews

’Tis the Festive season and what better way to start it than with the fantastic new Christmas romantic comedy Happiest Season. The sophomore directing effort from Clea DuVall (who you may know as stoic FBI agent Marjorie from Veep) is chock full of Christmas spirit and timely queer commentary; equally hilarious and emotionally impactful thanks to wonderful performances from an all-star cast led by Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. While it may lean into some rom-com tropes a little too heavily, the abundance of charm and the genuine investment in the characters DuVall creates makes it easy to forgive these minor imperfections and appreciate this soon-to-be modern Christmas classic.

Abby (Stewart) and Harper (Davis) have been going strong for a while now, and are at the point where Harper thinks it is finally time to introduce her long-term girlfriend to her family. What begins as a well-intentioned, spur-of-the-moment invitation soon turns to anxiety for Harper – who has yet to come out to her otherwise oblivious family – prompting her to ask Abby to pretend to be her roommate until she plucks up the courage to reveal her secret. Once the couple arrive at the Caldwell residence, we are given a tour of this unusual family through the eyes of Abby (our audience surrogate) as she is introduced and begins to get a clearer picture of the quirky dynamics at play. Ruled by snobbish, overbearing parents Ted (Victor Garber) and Tipper (Mary Steenburgen) are the sisters of Harper: Jane (Mary Holland) and Sloane (Alison Brie), who in turn commands her husband (Burl Moseley) and two children with an iron fist.

DuVall’s excellent script (which she co-wrote with Mary Holland) instantly establishes each family member of the familial unit; identifying their own specific quirks and challenges to overcome. It goes a long way towards making everyone feel like real (if overly quirky), fully fleshed-out people and establishing their specific relationships with Harper. Sloane has been knocked down the social ranking of daughters by her parents for prioritising her children over a successful law career, vaulting Harper into the favourite position and causing some serious tension and resentment. Meanwhile the eternally positive Jane has clearly been in her position at the bottom of the pecking order for a while, abused by the entire family and meeting it all with sheer optimism (and some hilariously overbearing mannerisms). This entire dysfunctional family synergy is due to patriarch Ted’s pursuit of political power, a path which has led him to present an extremely conservative public image; one that Harper fears will never recover from her true sexuality being exposed. It is this fear that causes Abby to agree to the ruse, but as things become increasingly complex and confusing, the relationship begins to strain and Abby must decide whether to wait for the woman she loves to publicly accept her or leave it all behind and move on.

From a story perspective this is your typical “getting to know the folks” comedy. Meet the Parents wrapped up in copious amounts of tinsel and Christmas cheer. What differentiates it from other comedies of the sub-genre is the richness of the world around the Caldwell clan. Aside from the central family, DuVall fills the screen with one interesting or hilarious character after another, with all the pop-ins and interactions serving to either alienate Abby further from this change in her environment or give her some respite from the stress of the trip. One of DuVall’s Veep co-stars (I won’t spoil it) crops up for a scene as a mall security guard that will have you in stitches. Similarly Aubrey Plaza delivers great, albeit slightly less sarcastic work than usual (sorry Parks and Recreation fans) as Harper’s ex-girlfriend and an unusual ally for Abby. It’s a far more meaty role than the security guard but one that still feels a little underdeveloped and convenient. Riley’s character delivers a different angle to the queer experience that is important to point out, but the film never really chooses to focus on it too deeply; wrapping everything up in a neat little package without ever fully unwrapping it in the first place.

The performances are where Happiest Season excels the most. Kristen Stewart leans into the emotional side of her character, exposing a vulnerability that some viewers may not have thought her capable of. Her usual laid-back, grounded acting style goes a long way here to offset the zaniness of the Caldwells and makes her the perfect window for the audience to view these bizarre Christmas events. Mackenzie Davis’ Harper gets a little bit less to work with in regards to screen time but makes up for it with a richly layered performance. Her story will be familiar to so many within the queer community and the struggle she goes through is as emotionally devastating as you would expect.

The standouts here are without a doubt Mary Steenburgen and Dan Levy. Steenburgen steals every scene she is in as Tipper, constantly berating her daughters with scathing comments about their life or fashion choices as she struggle to document the Christmas season on her newly created Instagram. There is a charm that offsets all the nastiness and you feel that her criticisms come from a place of love; that she is unable to express herself in a positive way and Steenburgen is hilarious in the role. Similarly Dan Levy acts as Abby’s confidant and guide through the trip’s events, dishing out laughably terrible life advice and constant reminders that he is tracking her every movement. Levy doesn’t get a lot of screen time but makes a huge impact on the film; the best sidekick from afar since Lil Rel Howery in Get Out.

Happiest Season is the film equivalent of a cup of hot chocolate at Christmas time. A warm and comforting film that brilliantly captures the highs and lows of the queer experience of coming out whilst being absolutely hilarious and a top notch romantic comedy in its own right. The whole cast is utterly fantastic, with not a weak link in sight and the smatterings of genre tropes and undercooked storylines are more than made up for with the charm and heart of Clea DuVall’s fantastic script. If you were looking for a new Christmas classic to revisit every year, look no further as you’ve found not only that, but one of the best films of 2020.

Happiest Season stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Holland, Victor Garber, Dan Levy, Burl Moseley & Mary Steenburgen – Streaming on Hulu in the US and in cinemas everywhere else now.

The Child’s Play franchise has always been something of an outlier in the horror landscape. The series delivered one of pop-culture’s most famous movie murderers in the delightful little murder-doll Chucky, an icon right up there with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, but the movies themselves never really made waves in the horror scene. The first 3 in the series are competent enough, never really venturing far from your conventional slasher film, but it’s the sequels Seed and Bride of Chucky which took the series into some weird places; easily some of the most bizarre horror movies ever made. The series has been consistent enough over the years, with the latest entry being 2017’s Cult of Chucky, which makes this reboot something of an outlier – the series isn’t in the same dire place as other franchises that desperately need a remake, so why make this? The 2019 version of Child’s Play sits comfortably between the slasher origins of the original 3 films and the craziness of the later sequels. Featuring a timely modern twist on the toy killer, it’s a rollercoaster of laughs and scares that’s one of the most fun experiences to be had in a cinema so far this year.

Similar to the original film, we follow teenager Andy (Gabriel Batemen) and his mother Karen (Aubrey Plaza) who have recently moved to a new home. Andy’s a troubled child, self-conscious about his hearing aid, and he finds it difficult to relate to other children and thus buries himself in his phone and social media like every other young person these days. Karen, understandably worried about her son’s increasingly anti-social behaviour, decides Andy needs a friend and so brings home a Buddi doll; a kind-of physical Alexa or Google home assistant that connects to smart devices and learns patterns and behaviours from its owner in order to make life easier. Only there’s something wrong with this Buddi doll. He refuses to take the name Andy gives him, dubbing himself Chucky (Mark Hamill) and taking on a very protective role for his new “bestest bud” Andy. Chucky’s obsession with protecting Andy slowly grows and he begins to take issue with anyone who shows comes into contact with his adoptive owner, including Andy’s friendly neighbour Mike (Brian Tyree Henry), a local detective. From there we get to the fun stuff: a ridiculously over-the-top rampage stuffed full of cheese all leading to a suitably crazy and swear filled finale (because it just wouldn’t be a Chucky movie without the doll spewing out curse words).

Your mileage with Child’s Play will depend on your ability to go along with the craziness. Yes, Chucky is the way he is because his “violence inhibitor” has been switched off and yes, people actually swarm to get their hands on these creepy dolls so they that can control their homes. That’s some real Terminator stuff right there. Chucky’s ability to interface with the technology around him makes for some inventive kills that keep the film from becoming just another generic slasher film – although there’s still plenty of slashing for series veterans. If you can get on-board with this then the movie is a blast; fast-paced with some genuinely good scares and some killer jokes (excuse the pun). Dig a bit more under the surface, however, and you’ll find an extremely timely message about over-reliance on technology and our ability to communicate without the internet and social media. Chucky is the by-product of this, his behaviour learned from those around him and the innocent confessions of a child who just longs for a friend. It’s an interesting play on the character of Chucky – he’s not inherently evil, he just wishes to protect his master from the unforgiving world around him – and one that sets the film apart from the rest of the franchise.

There was understandably much debate brought on by the decision to have Mark Hamill voice the killer doll in this instalment instead of Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky for almost 30 years. It was clearly a choice made to differentiate the film from the rest of the series, but could it work without Dourif’s menacing tone and ability to scream profanities in both a funny and scary way? Well, yes and no. Hamill is a legend of voice-acting, most known for his seminal portrayal of the Joker in numerous Batman films and TV appearences, and as such has an instantly recognisable voice. It’s no fault of his own and to Hamill’s credit he really attempts to differentiate it from the Joker voice by using a higher register but there’s still no denying the similarity and it sticks in your brain. Fortunately this is only a transitional feeling and goes away after a while, leaving you to appreciate his take on Chucky. Obviously this may be harder for some to just put aside than others, but to judge the performance as just another Joker voice is a disservice to the stellar work on display from Hamill. He excels as Chucky, giving him an optimism about the world which slowly turns violent without a shift in the tone. It’s an unsettling choice that puts Chucky’s programming on display here, he doesn’t see the right or wrong of his choices, he is murdering people purely to try and make Andy happy so they can play together.

On the more human side of the cast is a solid lead performance from Gabriel Bateman as Andy, a role which requires a lot from such a young actor. He’s more than up to the task, hitting all the right emotional beats and really selling the core relationship with Chucky as his best and only friend. Once the doll begins to show signs of homicidal tendencies, Andy is understandably alarmed, yet that core attachment to Chucky makes it difficult for him to decide what to do, and Bateman sells this beautifully through his anguished facial expressions. Aubrey Plaza delivers her usual biting deadpan style of comedy with terrific results, as the jaded, struggling single mother of Andy with a unique, almost more friend than mother relationship. Plaza’s brand of comedy is one of the films biggest strengths here, giving voice in the film to what we as audience members are thinking. For example in a scene early in the movie she remarks on the Buddi dolls creepiness and questions why Andy actually wants one. It’s a clever device to ease audiences into the bonkers story that is about to unfold, as even one of the main characters is just as skeptical of the premise as we are.

Child’s Play is a movie with a hard job to do in order to justify its existence: it needs to stand on its own as a different take on the Chucky legacy whilst also paying homage to the aspects of the franchise fans have come to expect. In this way the film is a roaring success; filled with over-the-top kills, some especially good scares (in a franchise not particularly known for them), and the right amount of humour to ensure that the audience always has a smile on their face. Couple that with excellent voice work from living legend Mark Hamill and a solid human cast and you’ve got yourself one fun time at the movies.

Child’s Play stars Mark Hamill, Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman & Brian Tyree Henry – in cinemas now.