The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Happiest Season
Romance · Comedy · 2020
A young woman's plans to propose to her girlfriend while at her family's annual holiday party are upended when she discovers her partner hasn't yet come out to her conservative parents.
Movie details
Happiest Season
“This holiday, everyone's secrets are coming out.”
2020 Romance · Comedy 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
A young woman's plans to propose to her girlfriend while at her family's annual holiday party are upended when she discovers her partner hasn't yet come out to her conservative parents.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Happiest Season?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
While You Were Sleeping
Romance · 1995
A transit worker pulls commuter Peter off railway tracks after he's mugged, but—while he's in a coma—his family mistakenly thinks she's Peter's fiancée, and she doesn't correct them. Things get more complicated when she falls for his brother, who's not quite sure that she's who she claims to be.
Love Hard
Comedy · 2021
An LA girl, unlucky in love, falls for an East Coast guy on a dating app and decides to surprise him for Christmas, only to discover that she's been catfished. But the object of her affection actually lives in the same town, and the guy who duped her offers to set them up if she pretends to be his own girlfriend for the holidays.
The Kissing Booth 2
Comedy · 2020
With college decisions looming, Elle juggles her long-distance romance with Noah, changing relationship with bestie Lee and feelings for a new classmate.
The Holiday
Comedy · 2006
Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
Everyone Says I Love You
Comedy · 1996
A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a shaky marriage while her half sister gets engaged.
Your Christmas or Mine?
Comedy · 2022
Students Hayley and James are young and in love. After saying goodbye for Christmas at a London train station, they both make the same mad split-second decision to swap trains and surprise each other. Passing each other in the station, they are completely unaware that they have just swapped Christmases.
Your Christmas or Mine 2
Comedy · 2023
They've swapped Christmas – again. Can Hayley and James' relationship survive another turbulent family Christmas or has their future together gone off-piste?!
A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love
TV Movie · 2019
Multiple coincidences and a chance meeting bring together Alice and Jack, two strangers from very different family backgrounds, for an unexpected Christmastime courtship filled with personal revelations, misread signals, and a very real health scare that will either destroy or strengthen the budding romance.
Holiday in Handcuffs
Comedy · 2007
A ne’er-do-well thirty-something attempts to appease her family by kidnapping herself an attractive boyfriend for the family Christmas. Despite unlikely odds and dysfunctional family moments, the two fall in love and share a magical Christmas.
The Simpsons: O C'mon All Ye Faithful
Animation · 2024
The residents of Springfield search for Christmas cheer.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Clea DuVall
Written by
Clea DuVall · Mary Holland
Kristen Stewart
Abby
Mackenzie Davis
Harper
Mary Steenburgen
Tipper
Victor Garber
Ted
Alison Brie
Sloane
Mary Holland
Jane
Dan Levy
John
Court is in session
Put Happiest Season on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.