It is no Richard Curtis film, but it is fun and entertaining nonetheless. The plot here - the trip home to meet the family where things go wrong/haywire - is quite a common plot in this genre of film, i.e., the Christmas romantic comedy. The writers (DuVall and Holland) also draw on a popular plot device: i.e., deception - the fake relationship intended to deceive family and friends (this year, Holidate and Midnight at the Magnolia, come to mind). The twist in this film, of course, is that it is a same-sex female relationship, where they pretend to be roommates as opposed to a couple. Overall, I thought this worked well. There is a lot of good and funny dialogue in this movie; I found myself laughing quite a bit, at times. At the heart of the humour for me was Sloane and Jane (the two sisters),and Tipper (the mother). The writers did a good job of developing the lines and dialogue here. That said, I thought the biggest shortcoming of the movie was that the writers did not spend enough time developing the relationship between Abby and Harper (the leads) before the trip home, before the deception began. In essence, we get one scene before they are off to visit the family for Christmas. The writers could have spent more time setting up why these two, Abby (played by Kristen Stewart) and Harper (played by Mackenzie Davis),are together, in love as it were. The chemistry between the two is never really established. Because the film spends much of the time playing out the deception, I found myself asking (towards the middle to end of the film): why are these two together? Of course, at the very end, the writers try to sort this out with a heartfelt reveal, coming out, by Harper. But by then, I felt it was too late, I already had a 'bad taste in my mouth'. The acting was impressive overall. The leads both had great performances. I especially enjoyed Mary Steenburgen's portrayal of Tipper (she was very funny!). Alison Brie (as Sloane) and Mary Holland (as Jane) were great too (hilarious in some scenes, I thought). You are in for a treat with these performances. Leaving the shortcoming aside, this is a fun (and at times, emotional) Christmas romcom. I really enjoyed it, thus I highly recommend it.

Harper (Mackenzie Davis) reluctantly invites her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) to her conservative family Christmas. Abby excitedly plans to propose but Harper reveals that she had lied about coming out to her family. They have to pretend to be straight while Harper's father (Victor Garber) runs for mayor. Her mother (Mary Steenburgen) is stressed. Harper is constantly competing with older sister Sloane (Alison Brie). Jane (Mary Holland) is the overlooked awkward sister. Riley (Aubrey Plaza) is Harper's ex. John (Dan Levy) is Abby's friend.

This is basically a traditional Christmas comedy with all the rom-com and family dysfunction toppings. It adds the newish lesbian coming out story into the mix. Actresses Clea DuVall and Mary Holland are the writers and filmmakers. Clea is not necessarily an experienced director and it shows in a couple of scenes. Mostly, this is a fun romp with a serious premise. I really like all the actors. Davis and Stewart are good together. I would probably switch out Steenburgen for someone more high strung. She needs to be more Waspy. The comedy is great although sometimes, it needs a sharper pen. There is also the differing tones. Sometimes, they clash. The denouement stretches out a little too long. Not everything needs a wrap-up and the comedic tone fades away after awhile. This is very good all the same.

Many of us may think that homosexuality is not an issue anymore, but we would be thinking wrong. There is still so much work to do in the public and the understanding. Now that doesn't mean you have to do or watch certain things. In a way this is filled with cliches that rom coms have too. Instead of two lesbians, it would be that one of the two isn't rich enough or maybe even has a different colored skin (yes racism also still an issue).

But in here we have a couple who seems at least mad in love with each other ... but one of them certainly unable to actually show it in public. Now we may be mad at her (and there are reasons to be),but the movie also makes us understand her dilemma. We are likely to be triggered in one way or another or to judge quickly ... but again, there is more to it, that can be seen on the surface.

And yet through all the drama, the movie is able to be as funny as it can be. Sometimes it is even so subtle with its humor, you may miss it (glances, looks, tone of voice etc). A movie that may not be without flaws, but so are we as humans, yes? So dig in and enjoy it (even with a rushed ending that almost spoils all of what came before)