Kristen Stewart | 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.

Of all the franchises begging to be brought back to the silver screen, Charlie’s Angels was not one that was high on too many people’s wish list. The early 2000’s films featuring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz were fine enough action films, if somewhat disposable, but the chemistry of the core cast was enough to leave most with fond memories of the franchise. Enter the 2019 reboot/sequel starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and newcomer Ella Balinska; a surprisingly fun, upbeat action film that ultimately succeeds thanks to solid performances from its core trio and by never taking itself too seriously. Whilst its message of “girl power” is a little ham-fisted and unsubtle in its delivery, and the plot is about as cookie cutter as it gets – straight out of 2000’s action cinema – there is never a dull moment and for a Charlie’s Angel movie released in 2019, that’s far better than what was to be expected.

The “angels” are a team of female super spies from around the world coordinated into one cohesive task force called the Townsend Agency, led by the ever present, yet never seen “Charlie”. Beneath Charlie are his lieutenants – all codenamed “Bosley”,- just to be intentionally confusing – men and women from intelligence operations around the world who act as direct liaisons to the agents in the field and mentor them through their rigorous training process. When the agency receives a call from Elena (Naomi Scott) about the potential weaponising of Callisto, the renewal power source she has created for boss Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin), it sets off a chain reaction of mayhem as multiple parties vie for control of the device. Bosley (Elizabeth Banks) sends in two of her top agents to protect Elena and prevent anyone else from getting their hands on the device; Sabina (Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska), and what follows is a series of twists and turns, all fairly predictable, as the three girls learn to work together and become a sisterhood in order to save the day.

Charlie’s Angels really shouldn’t work as well as it does and that success all comes down to the script, written by Banks (pulling triple duty by also starring and directing). She mixes the early 2000 tropes with a 2019 view on women – confident, self-assured spies who can do anything and get the job done – to great effect. You understand that these women are trained killers and the world is at stake yet it’s all just so ridiculous and fun, as the whole team slings one-liners at each other whilst they escape numerous close encounters with evil henchmen. Whilst the script is solid in the way it handles the tropes of the genre and its humour, it falls down in the story, which is simply plot development after plot development to put the spies in a variety of fun locations or situations. It doesn’t make sense and is full of loop holes and leaps in reality which just aren’t justifiable. It’s the kind of film that would rather hit you with a montage of random girls doing activities like riding horses or surfing to portray the message that girls can do anything, rather than spending the time to build up a story that makes a bit of sense and shows that these girls are actually in danger of not making it out alive. It doesn’t derail the show as it’s clear from the opening scene that this is not in any way going to be a serious film, but it just would go that extra mile to raise the stakes and allow for some investment in the characters beyond their surface level personalities.

Banter is the name of the game here and while the interplay between the cast makes the film, the characters are surprisingly one note, barely going beyond surface level or digging into anybody’s motives or psyche. Having said that, there are no weak links in the cast and everybody plays their characters competently enough. Kristen Stewart shows a new side of herself that audiences may be taken aback by, as the spunky spy Sabina, easily the most energetic member of the cast, showcasing a mix of deadpan and wisecracking comedy that will no doubt surprise. She’s come a long way since her Twilight days, appearing in a host of indie dramas over the years since the monster franchise wrapped up and her re-entry to mainstream blockbuster cinema is a breath of fresh air. There’s still that same brooding somewhat closed-off energy that remains from Twilight but the role is perfect to show off her other talents, both action and comedy, and this should go a long way to boosting her prominence in more blockbuster work, should she choose to go that route.

Naomi Scott gets the most traditional story arc of anyone in the film as Elena, going from timid whistleblower to reasonably competent super spy, but it all feels so rushed, with the transition happening in less time than the film takes to bust out an Ariana Grande song (of which there are many). Scott is the audience surrogate here, showing us the mysterious Townsend Agency from an outsider’s perspective, but there’s only so long you can watch her open mouthed look of surprise before it gets stale. She’s fine in the role and won’t be going anywhere, coming off a solid year between this and the recent Aladdin reboot. Ella Balinska rounds out the core trio as the emotionally shut-off lone wolf Jane, a former MI6 operative turned angel who must learn to trust her teammates if they have any hope of succeeding. She’s surprisingly the strongest of the trio, really selling herself as the emotionally damaged spy who has clearly suffered in her former job. Her arc feels the most earned and while it is not as central as Elena’s it is surprisingly emotional and cathartic and Balinska hits all the beats surprisingly well, considering this is one of her first big roles.

At a time when theatres have been mostly dominated by drama and horror, Charlie’s Angels provides a high-octane shot of adrenaline: full of big, bombastic, explosion-filled set pieces and zingers a-plenty. Whilst the story won’t set the world on fire and the characters are all a bit one-note, the cast playing them is clearly having so much fun that it becomes infectious. The jokes land when they need to and the pace moves at a clip, making this an easy, breezy enjoyable time at the movies or a shot of fun at home on a boring Sunday afternoon.

Charlie’s Angels stars Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska, Elizabeth Banks, Patrick Stewart & Sam Claflin – In cinemas now.