THE HOLIDAY SITTER (2022)

In 2015, same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States. After that, it seemed like the next big gay rights battle was for representation on made-for-TV Christmas romance movies. I'm not sure why this, over the next few years, became such an issue, but as a gay man who enjoys Hallmark Christmas movies, I was happy to see how this pop culture battle would play out. In 2018, Hallmark aired ROAD TO CHRISTMAS which featured a very subtly-portrayed gay couple as secondary characters—the relationship was presented in a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments, but still it seemed like a line had been crossed. In 2019, Lifetime presented TWINKLE ALL THE WAY in which a married gay male couple featured prominently. 2020 brought the first Christmas romance movies centered on gay couples: Lifetime’s THE CHRISTMAS SETUP and Paramount's DASHING INTO DECEMBER. That same year, Hallmark featured a gay couple as the secondary leads in THE CHRISTMAS HOUSE (a sequel came the next year). Netflix’s SINGLE ALL THE WAY and Hulu’s HAPPIEST SEASON (which featured a lesbian couple) were presented in 2021. Now, in 2022 Hallmark, the gold standard broadcaster of Christmas TV-movies, goes all in with their own movie starring a gay male couple.

In THE HOLIDAY SITTER, we first meet Sam (Jonathan Bennett, pictured) on a first date with a handsome doctor, but things go south quickly when we learn the doctor loves kids and wants a traditional family and Sam doesn't—when these facts are revealed, they both quickly ask for their checks. As Sam prepares for a solo holiday trip to Hawaii, his sister Kathleen and her husband ask him to watch their two children for a couple of days so they can go pick up the newborn baby they're adopting. The last time he was left in charge, Sam started a small kitchen fire trying to cook breakfast, so he's reluctant, but his sister guilt-trips him into it. Sam arrives to find Kathleen's neighbor Jason (George Krissa) watching the kids until he gets there. Jason is handsome, kind, and also happens to live next door so he already has a good relationship with the kids. Worried about his babysitting abilities, Sam asks Jason to be a "uncle-ing consultant" and even offers him a generous check for his time. Jason also happens to be gay and the two begin to warm up to each other, but it turns out that Jason wants all the things Sam doesn't (settling down in the suburbs, having kids, etc.) and is even in the process of adopting a child to be a single parent. Sam gets pretty good at being an uncle, and even manages to successfully cook a meal, but will he ever change his tune about marriage and family so he and Jason could get together?

This movie's secret weapon is Jonathan Bennett (who was in THE CHRISTMAS HOUSE). He is handsome, charming, and genuinely funny—he also gets to give his character some personality above and beyond what the typical Hallmark male lead allows (usually, only Kristoffer Polaha and Ryan Paevy get to do that). He makes Sam's development from commitment-phobic to romantic believable, and the Hallmark happy ending feels earned. Kirssa, stuck with playing the perfect guy, isn't as effective (and, though he's nice looking, what is with his hair?). The teleplay could just as easily have had a heterosexual couple at its center, and that may be a problem for some gay viewers who criticize the "heteronormativity" of the gay Christmas movie, i.e., presenting gay male couples as more or less interchangeable with straight couples. However, Bennett gets a very nice scene in which he traces his problem with settling down to the fact that, for so many years, he was used to being told "no" by society, so it takes some getting used to having a "yes" mindset. I identified with that—after living with my partner since 1990, we got married in 2015 and it took me a long time to refer to him as my husband without feeling self conscious or like I was picking a political fight. I applaud Hallmark for this film, and I think Bennett's performance makes it worth watching whatever your political worldview is. [Hallmark]