The Holdovers (2023)

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One of the surest ways a film can win my heart is by letting me into the lives of characters aching for healing who achieve genuine, emotional human connection. It’s why I love films like Pump Up the Volume, The Breakfast Club, Sideways, or Little Miss Sunshine. Telling this kind of story convincingly and without too much sentimentality is an astonishingly difficult thing for any filmmaker to pull off. It requires a great script and terrific actors. The Holdovers is the latest wonderful film to move me in this way.

Paul Giamatti stars as a grouchy, bitter New England prep school professor who is forced to remain on campus over Christmas break to monitor a handful of children who can’t, for various reasons, go home. Newcomer Dominic Sessa plays a troubled teenager who is quick to lash out, bringing out the worst in Giamatti’s character. Rounding out the film’s triumvirate is Da’Vine Joy Randolph, a school cook whose graduate son has recently died in Vietnam. All three actors give solid performances, with Giamatti in especially stellar form — perhaps a career-best turn.

The Holdovers traps these three characters alone together for a few weeks to get on each other’s nerves, come to loggerheads, and eventually to an understanding. It’s far from the first film to throw disparate characters into close quarters for the sake of forcing catharsis, but its one of the better executions of that trope I’ve ever seen. From the description of the characters above, you might imagine some easy, sentimental ways for the film to achieve its aim, but The Holdovers will surprise you with its restraint and sincerity. The characters are earnest and real, and it’s a privilege to get to know them as an audience.

The film benefits tremendously from its Christmastime setting, a time of year that tends to deepen our emotions — depression as well as joy. Director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways) lucked out by experiencing a real snowstorm that blanketed the school location for the duration of the shoot. Payne and his crew create a convincing recreation of the year 1970 with wardrobe, props, and set dressing. The director goes a step further by using an older, more narrow aspect ratio for the photography, as well as retro screen titles and editing techniques. The effect is a film not just of the ’70s, but from the ’70s. And as far as I’m concerned, the further a film can get away from modern sensibilities, the better.

I think a lot about why I like movies or dislike them. A film’s ability to successfully transport me — either to a setting or into another person’s shoes — is often an indication of high favorability. The Holdovers transports me in both ways. I feel like I’m with these three characters in The Holdovers, in a cozy prep school setting during a Christmas in 1970. I love the company. I love the vibe. I love the movie.

Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress (Da’Vine Joy Randolph)

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Actor (Paul Giamatti), Original Screenplay, Film Editing