Did you know that couples break up most often between November and December? Writer and director H. Nelson Tracey decided to combine that random fact with the Christmas movie for an unexpected holiday treat in his first feature film, “Breakup Season” (2024). When Ben Russell (Chandler Riggs) brings his girlfriend, Cassie (Samantha Isler), to meet his folks in Oregon, neither of them expect that their first day at home will be their first day as exes. With a snowstorm wreaking havoc on the roads and last-minute plane tickets prices are too high, Cassie seems to be stuck with the Russell family for the entire winter break. How will they celebrate Christmas when it hurts so much to be together? Come for the relationship train wreck, stay to see an example of how to coexist and move on.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. It is weird to see Riggs as a man after watching him as a kid for a long (not the entire) time on “The Walking Dead.” If you look at Riggs and Isler too quickly in the beginning, it feels like a more down-to-earth casting reboot of “Smallville” with Riggs as Clark Kent and Isler as Chloe (intended as a compliment). The trick of “Breakup Season” is that Ben and Casie need to clearly break up without making either of them impossible to root for. Tracey managed to write it in a way that it would work, and Riggs and Isler execute it well with the only caveat being that Cassie feels a smidge underwritten though a phone call with her off screen mom explains why she was willing to try going away and spend time with a guy that she knows that she should break up with it.
Ben unconsciously seems to subscribe to the tolerable level of permanent unhappiness school of romance and keeps prioritizing others’ comfort over Cassie, especially his own. Cassie’s main flaw is her timing and frustration that Ben is not doing more to help her get out of there. Like, girl, once someone is not your boyfriend anymore, if they were inconsiderate before, they are not usually going to get better. Also let’s normalize not waking up people just because you are awake and raring to go. Who does not ask for the wi-fi password immediately upon entering any vicinity? They are both having a rough time for different reasons, and Tracey navigates a realistic, accessible utopian way of handling the situation.
It also helps that “Breakup Season” has a great ensemble cast, which absolutely does not appear to be biologically related to each other at all, but has great chemistry, nevertheless. Fave character actor James Urbaniak plays the man of the house, Kirby, who adores his wife, Mia (Brook Hogan), gives great advice to his sons, which includes eldest, Gordon (Jacob Wysocki), cooks for the family, and loves trains. Kirby feels related to Urbaniak’s character in “Difficult People.” Is the entire family neurodivergent (compliment)? The train fixation and random insightfulness are dead giveaways. Kirby is not perfect in one scene when he is sharper than necessary with his daughter, but no one is. Hogan plays Mia as an ordinary woman who also happens to be the best at everything despite her initial awkward moments within the first twenty-four hours, but course corrects as soon as she accurately assesses the situation. Stewart plays Liz as if she is desperate to have a sister, which Cassie reciprocates, but the character is the least interesting; however, Tracey does write women well because even though Liz is obsessed with social media, her piece de resistance is adorable and wholesome.
Wysocki is the biggest surprise in “Breakup Season.” He frames Gordon as the guy who failed to launch stuck in his parent’s basement and just likes to mansplain and verbally terrorize anyone. Tracey looks deeper, humanizes and redeems the figure, and Wysocki understands Gordon’s layers taking him on an emotional journey without fundamentally changing his personality. Gordon’s demeanor is bristly, but if anyone listens to what he says versus how he says it, he has excellent points and is more perspicacious and sensitive than he seems. He ends up having the most touching moments with each character and turns out to be an amazing brother. As his backstory is revealed, Gordon gradually eclipses Ben and leads to a poignant nexus point for all the characters to gain perspective on how uncomfortable and sympathetic every individual is. There are no bad guys. Gordon ends up being the most interesting character in the movie, and if he was the protagonist, it would only make the movie better. Tracey’s ability to write three-dimensional supporting characters that surpass the main duo is a good problem to have because he can learn how to spread the love, but it is harder to teach writers how to write dialogue and add texture to situations that will surprise audiences.
“Breakup Season” is a countercultural, aspirational, achievable utopian movie because it proposes the radical idea that even when someone breaks up with you, they deserve to have their desires respected and to still receive kind treatment. The entire family bands together to make Cassie’s holiday as pain free as possible. All the men give solid advice to Ben. Mia is a mom, not a boy mom. More importantly, it treats heartbreak as an inevitable part of life, not a personal failing. It is a very mature approach that models how people should behave in the real world. The flaws are minor such as who is a blood relative and who is not. It does not matter. Everyone is family.
“Breakup Season” also reflects the reality of how the real world puts a strain on relationships. Cassie is overworked, and Ben is frustrated that he is unemployed though he has the right educational pedigree. These kinds of problems destroy marriages, and they are actually smarter than most to call it quits so early. It is gradually revealed that Ben likes Cassie more for what she represents than who she is, and it is an important distinction that hurts them both.
“Breakup Season” often feels like a love letter to La Grange, the town that the family visits on Christmas Eve. As a director, Tracey’s exterior work was stronger than his interior work because he is working with the majestic outdoors of Oregon, but it is not to suggest that the interior shots fall short in anyway. The interiors are resplendent with the holiday spirit, but it was hard to suspend disbelief that a house so huge did not have enough a room for each person. Cinematographer Eric Macey made everything have that magic hour glow. The camera direction was functional. There were some continuity issues based on the narrative having a huge snowstorm then not having snow in a lot of scenes, but let’s sign a waiver on it because it is totally possible for some areas to be hit harder than others.
Finally, “Breakup Season” is a Christmas movie that feels real and messy without being intolerable. Tracey’s first film is a stronger entry than most seasoned filmmakers who play it safe or filmmakers with more resources such as money, star power or access to a broader market thanks to connections. Let’s hope that he is still making films and building on this achievement. His work is a breath of fresh air in a world where holiday movies veer too far into dysfunction or too close to saccharine and disgustingly perfect.
