We seem to be gearing up for quite the holiday season. Though seasonal movies have long been pushed out during the last two months of the year, this year a number of those films will center on LGBTQ+ narratives, and be pushed by pretty major companies. Since there's more than just a couple, we've put them all together here for easy binge scheduling.
*This story is being updated as we learn of more.
Paramount Pictures is stepping up to the holiday plate with a few cowboys it looks like. Peter Porte stars at Wyatt who returns to his home (which is his mother's ranch) from the Big City for the holidays. There, he finds himself falling for Heath (played by Pablo Di Pace,) a ranch hand who loves the ranch that Wyatt hopes to convince his mother to sell.
“This feel good project captures the importance of inclusive storytelling, the power of love and the spirit of the holidays all rolled into one,” said Meghan Hooper, Paramount EVP, Head of Original Movies and Limited Series, in a release.
The film will premiere on Logo, Pop, and TV Land on December 13th at 7 p.m.
We love gays playing gays, but what about husbands playing high school sweethearts? In this Lifetime original, Ben Lewis and Blake Lee play leads where Lewis (as Hugo) returns home to Milwaukee for the holidays. There his mother Kate (played by Fran Drescher) has arranged for him to run into his secret high school crush, Patrick (played by Lee). The pair hit it off but in the end Hugo must decide between a promotion and love.
The Christmas Setup is due out on December 12 at 8 p.m. and will be Lifetime's first holiday film to focus on a LGBTQ+ romance.
Clea DuVall's Happiest Season was the first we heard of the bunch. It stars Kristen Stewart, Dan Levy, Victor Garber, and more, and will debut on Hulu on November 25. The plot involves Stewart's character wanting to propose to her girlfriend (Davis's character) on a trip back home for the holidays, only to find that she's not out to her family yet. A rom-com ensues.
The project is the first LGBTQ+ holiday romcom made by a major studio.
This holiday, everyone’s secrets are coming out. #HappiestSeason premieres November 25, only on @hulu. pic.twitter.com/hY2bGGo96X
— Happiest Season (@HappiestSeason) November 9, 2020
After a bit of chatter — and a few petitions — The Hallmark Channel is getting into the queer holiday fare with The Christmas House. In it, Jonathan Bennett stars as Brandon Mitchell, one of two grown sons who have come back home for the holidays. He makes the trip with his husband Jake, played by Brad Harder, and the pair waiting to hear about the possible adoption of their first child. The film will premiere Sunday November 22.
The latest in a legacy of shows where savvy queers help the world is Mr. Christmas. In the Netflix original Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas, Benjamin Bradley goes into homes and brings the holiday spirit. Through his personal obsession, as in this niche genre of shows that has included the likes of Queer Eye, RuPaul's Drag Race U, and We're Here, he's able to help families work through their own issues, weaving heartfelt narratives that are perfect to watch unfold while cuddled by the fire.
Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas is now streaming on Netflix.
If you binged your way through Love Is Blind, one of its executive producers has something new for you! 12 Dates of Christmas brings the reality dating competition to the holidays and plops three singles in a Christmas palace full of suitors just in time to take someone home to their family. Garrett, a New York-based real estate developer, appears in the trailer as the gay star of the show hopping in the jacuzzi and toasting to his would-be suitors. The first three episodes of the series release on HBO Max on November 26, with more in the weeks to follow.
If you wanted to add a little of the paranormal into your holiday watching fare, Netflix has you covered. The New York Christmas Wedding sees a soon-to-be bride visited by her guardian angel who asks "What if?" What if she had acted on her earlier feelings for a close female friend of hers when she had the opportunity? The film allows her to explore that, in a bit of an alternate universe in the middle of her preparations to wed her male fiancee.
The New York Christmas Wedding is streaming on Netflix now.
