A Holiday I Do

My issue with the growing number of LGBTQ* holiday romances produced by companies like Lifetime or Tubi is that to me, these products are inherently soulless, cookie-cutter pieces of rainbow capitalism. Even when they’re enjoyable. A Holiday I Do (available on Tello) is a much more independent project than those type of movies. My problem with A Holiday I Do is that it wants to be a soulless, cookie-cutter pieces of rainbow capitalism. But it doesn’t even fully pull that off. Yet in the moments where A Holiday I Do misses the mark, you get the most heart. And also the absolute worst green screen.

Directed by Alicia and Paul Schneider, A Holiday I Do is about the seasonal romance of a woman named Jane (Lindsay Hicks). Jane is divorced, though she and her husband remain friendly. In fact, Jane is going to be his best woman for his upcoming marriage. The two also share a precocious daughter named Lexi. Jane lives openly as a gay woman to the point where her mother tries to set her up on dates with women. Though Jane has little interest. But as her ex’s wedding draws nearer, Jane has a series of near-misses with the wedding planner, Sue (Rivkah Reyes). And Jane thinks there’s some sort of connection between her and Sue. When bad weather means the actual engaged couple can’t make some of the appointments, Jane accompanies Sue on a series of wedding-related activities. And wouldn’t you know it, they fall for each other.

The best part about the film is its heart and kindness. There does seem to be a real passion in bringing this fluffy, gay holiday romance to life. And within the film, everyone’s just nice to each other. I like that. If I’m going to watch a film like this, I’d prefer to see characters I like and crucially, who like each other. Even in movies like this, that’s not always the case. Jane has a supportive family in this. Her mom loves and supports her. She’s even close with her ex. It would be easy to demonize the ex-husband. Or even more, his new fiancee. Instead, every character in A Holiday I Do is basically, a nice person willing to communicate with a level of emotional intelligence.There’s so much love shared between the characters in this film. And that’s what warms my heart more than the romance plot itself.

While there is a lot of heart to the film, I’m probably not the person to receive it graciously. Holiday romances are such a limited format for a story. They are so entrenched in cliche that it often saps originality from the project. And that’s true with A Holiday I Do as well. Which again, is sort of strange because this is an independent production. Fitting this story into the narrow box of holiday romance seems not like a mandate given by company executives, but a specific choice made by the creators. And I just don’t have appreciation for that choice. I’m jaded anyway and I’ve seen over 500+ lesbian films. Opting to make one that feels like it eschews elements of risk or originality isn’t going to impress me. Especially when the moments when the film deviates from the formula are often the strongest part of the film.

The fact that this isn’t a film courtesy of Lifetime and the like also means that there is less budget and subsequently, uneven quality. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag. And it’s a case where the fact that half the performances are decent just makes the others look worse in comparison. But by far, the place where you see the lack of budget the most is in the use of green screen. Even scenes of characters in a car don’t succeed in producing a believable looking background outside the windows. But there’s also several exterior scenes where the winter wonderland is clearly a sound stage and a stock image added in post. The absolute low point is a sledding scene. It’s a solid few minutes of green screen so bad I started thinking about Neil Breen’s latest movies. That’s not a good sign.

I have to hedge my reviews of movies like this with the fact that I am not the audience. But that’s okay! I know a lot of queer women are always looking for WLW content that’s warm, wholesome and comforting. A Holiday I Do is that. The fact that everyone in the movie is so nice is a really element in the film’s favour. It somewhat sets this movie apart from even some other queer holiday romances. Plus, this is a lesbian movie the whole family can enjoy. Show your grandma! Show your weirdly precocious 10 year old who’s clearly played by a 13-year old! It’s a fine movie for all generations except for edgelord millennials who cut their teeth watching lesbian exploitation cinema from the 70s.

Overall rating: 5.0/10

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