Tonight, Film 4 is screening a festive film with a twist, starring Kirsten Stewart, Mackenzie Davis and Dan Levy, touted as one ‘for people who hate Christmas movies. ‘.

Happiest Season, a holiday rom-com, follows Abby (Kristen Stewart) as she plans to propose to her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) at her family’s Christmas gathering.

However, Abby learns that Harper hasn’t come out to her conservative parents and is asked to pose as her straight, orphaned flatmate, leading to uncomfortable situations, familial tension, and the challenge of authenticity during the festive season.

The film debuted in late November 2020, premiering first in the U.S., followed by the UK and Canada. Despite its star-studded cast, the film has garnered mixed reviews, with some praising it as ‘one of the freshest holiday movies’ while others label it ‘appallingly bad.’

On Rotten Tomatoes, a film ratings website, one viewer said: “It is a refreshing holiday movie: funny and heartwarming.”, reports <a href=”https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/christmas-movie-for-people-who-36429044″ rel=”Follow” target=”_self”>the Mirror</a>.

Another added: “Happiest Season is one of the best Christmas I have seen in a while. It’s constantly funny throughout and has some heartwarming moments. There are a few little things that hold it back from being great.”

A third said: “Funny and heartfelt. Great themes around the dangers of maintaining a perfect persona.

“Loved this movie! one of the freshest holiday movie I’ve seen in years. and once the best cast,” another fan chimed in.

One viewer wrote: “Absolutely one of my favourites! Love the whole movie. The characters, decorations, music and quite a few laughs. Makes me feel good and festive.”

Another fan echoed this sentiment, saying: “It’s a special feeling to watch a movie and instantly know you’ll be watching it every holiday season from now on… this is an instant classic! !”.

However, not all reviews were glowing, with some rating it a mere half star on a film review site. One critic said: “This is an appallingly bad movie, completely unoriginal and full of cliche. They were making movies with the same plot back in the 80s and even then they were awful.”

Another viewer pinpointed the moment their disappointment set in, explaining: “The moment I realised it was going to be terrible was in the very first scene when the two main characters were up on the roof of a house and one of them slipped off the roof while the other wasn’t looking; the other, who’s taller and was standing uproof, turned back and started looking straight out and turning her head searching for the first – a stupid gag that was even ridiculously corny when Laurel and Hardy were doing it 90 years ago.

“The director of this movie should consider changing career and never be allowed to inflict this sort of tripe on us again. And the actors should take a great deal more care choosing their next ‘project’.”

Another viewer echoed these sentiments, writing: “Depressing. Not a light hearted Queer Christmas movie like it was advertised. The ending didn’t feel genuine and there was nothing beyond the first 20% that made me feel like these two belonged together at all.”

A further scathing review lambasted the film, saying: “If I could give this movie zero stars, I would. The movie was great, if the message they were trying to convey was that no matter what, you should always stay with your lying, extremely manipulative significant other just because you spent a long time making the mistake of dating her! The single redeeming part of this movie is Jane, who was funny and also the only character that wasn’t absolutely terrible. There is a reason that Hulu originals aren’t that popular, and its this movie.”

Happiest Season is on Film 4 at 9pm on December 22.