Happiest Season, director and cowriter Clea DuVall’s semi-autobiographical film, is the latest installment in the holiday romantic comedy catalogue. And like all holiday comedies, this one is ripe with family conflict. Harper (Mackenzie Davis) brings her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) home to her conservative family for the holidays, but Harper isn’t out to her family––they think Abby is her roommate––so the two must pretend to be straight. What follows are ridiculous situations in which the family proves they are not as put together as they may seem on the surface. Yet, instead of making us despise the family, the film instead tries to get us to understand them, baggage and all. It’s ultimately with this that Abby and Harper are able to find their happily ever after, but this is not an idea that lends itself to a lot of queer individuals, especially those from other marginalized backgrounds. Though a big step in representation in a traditionally straight genre, Happiest Season proves that representation isn’t always great progress.