I Hate New Year’s

By: Pauline K

I Hate New Year’s follows rising star musician Layne Pierce (Dia Frampton) who is experiencing writer’s block after having landed her big breakthrough in California. In hope of finding new inspiration, Layne travels back home to Nashville where she is staying with her best friend Cassie (Ashley Argota). While Layne is relieved to be back and away from the pressure that comes with being a successful musician, we find out that Cassie is nervous yet determined to tell Layne that she is in love with her.

However, Cassie’s plan unexpectedly changes when Layne reveals that she might not be over her ex-girlfriend Caroline (Kelly Lynn Reiter). It seems a mysterious fortune teller, Zelena (Candis Cayne), previously predicted that someone or something with the letter “C” will be of importance during her journey of breaking her writer’s block. What ensues is a night out in downtown on New Year’s Eve with the two best friends bouncing from one party or bar to another. Whereas Layne initially is hyper focused on finding Caroline (unaware of Cassie increasingly struggling with her feelings), she comes to realize that inspiration and ultimately love may be found where she least expects it.

Notable out of the performances are the great chemistry between Frampton and Argota as well as their musical talent. As both of their characters are musicians, there are various original songs that they perform, which perfectly blend into the storyline and reflect the emotional state of the characters well. Worth mentioning are Andrew Brennen, portraying mutual friend Freddie, and Candis Cayne, who plays Zelena the fortune teller as well as Cassie’s personal driver Marley. These two not only provide a lot of laughter, but sneakily manage to occasionally break the fourth wall throughout the movie, bringing the holiday magic even closer into our homes.

Director Christin Baker and writer Kathryn Trammell managed to produce another wholesome queer holiday rom-com (their first movie Season of Love premiered in 2019) that provides a lot of happiness, laughter, music, heart and love. It is especially great that Cassie and Layne are not only both queer, but out and proud, which gives us a unique approach to a LGBTQ+ storyline that is mostly focused on falling in love. While coming out storylines do remain important to be represented within the media, it is refreshing to see a queer holiday rom-com simply showing that love is love without diving into the trauma that oftentimes comes with coming out journeys.

Two points of critique may be that the whole storyline is set in a single night, resulting in the plot seeming a bit rushed at times, as well as a certain amount of predictability being present throughout the whole movie. That; however, is quickly set aside as it is part of what makes holiday movies wholesome and you will find yourself loving New Year’s – contradictory to the movie’s name. Overall, I Hate New Years is definitely a holiday rom-com that delivers an enjoyable storyline and positive LGBTQ+ representation with the potential to be happily re-watched every year.