The Holdovers isn’t just one of the best films of 2023; it’s one of the best Christmas films of the past twenty years. The Holdovers demonstrates that in a world of big-budget flops, superhero-sized disappointments and lazy pop culture nostalgia, we can still make films like we used to. It’s a shining light, a beacon of brilliance and a movie that will undoubtedly become a classic of modern cinema. The Holdovers will arrive in UK cinemas on January 19th, 2024, and is now showing on Peacock in the United States.
Nostalgia sits at the heart of Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers from the 70s Universal and Focus Features logos at the start of the film to the crackling and popping sound of aged celluloid as the opening credits take us to a snow-covered town on the east coast of the United States where a prestigious school dominates the landscape. But unlike the modern pop culture obsession with past cinematic glory, The Holdovers nostalgia isn’t about logos, the return of actors from the past or the rerun of stories that achieved cinematic immortality. Instead, we are offered a 1970s-style movie set in the decade its filmmaking prowess embodies. Every frame of Payne’s movie is a rallying cry that we can make films like we used to and that cinema would be better if we did.
All great comedies lace laugh-out-loud humour with a far more profound exploration of the human condition. These comedies allow audiences to explore life and its many disappointments, hurdles and challenges through laughter. The Holdovers is one of those comedies, a shining gem in the 2023 cinematic crown, that takes us back to the character-driven comedy absent in many modern films. Of course, The Holdovers isn’t the first great comedy director Alexander Payne has offered us; in 2004, he brought us Sideways, starring Paul Giamatti, whom he reunites with for The Holdovers. Sideways was a triumph, a stunning vintage wine, uncorked for all to taste. But The Holdovers is even better; it’s the equivalent of a Michelin star festive banquet, as we are invited to join three lonely souls for a Christmas not one wanted but each of them needed.
Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a Scrooge-like professor at the prestigious Barton Academy, a hallowed institution that offers wealthy parents the opportunity to ship their kids off while they enjoy their wealth and privilege free from the interference of their offspring. Hunham isn’t the most liked teacher at the elite boarding school, with students or staff, and as the Christmas holidays approach, he has once again found himself lumbered with the holdovers. The young chaps in question have nowhere to go for the festive holiday, mainly due to the selfish nature of their parents, who would prefer them not to be around for multiple reasons.
The rebellious Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) only finds out he is one of those holdovers at the last minute, as his mother calls, stating she will be spending the Christmas break with her new husband in the sun. And so Angus finds himself locked up for the holidays with a small group of boys, the crotchety Hunham and the kitchen manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving the loss of her only son in Vietnam.
However, what starts with a small group of boys soon becomes an intimate circle of Angus, Mary and Hunham as wealthy parents sweep up the other kids. And so, three lost, lonely and troubled people find themselves trapped in each other’s company as the snow falls and Christmas arrives. Each is at a turning point in their lives. Angus has yet to process what happened to his father, his rebellion wrapped in anger, fear and confusion. At the same time, Paul Hunham’s spikey teacher persona hides his internal disappointment with his life, a life consumed by the school he once attended. Then there’s Mary, who has lost the one person who made her life complete to a war that won’t touch the wealthy kids she cooks for.
David Hemingson’s screenplay is sublime as he gently unwraps each character’s inner turmoil as Christmas nears and then passes. Hemingson beautifully laces laugh-out-loud comedy with a stunning exploration of human emotions, internal pain and shared healing in the cold surroundings of a school built on stiff-upper-lip silence.
Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and newcomer Dominic Sessa are outstanding as they bounce off one another with impeccable timing, slowly unveiling the ghosts, doubts, grief, and insecurities that silently haunt their every step. In their hands, the relationship and conflicts between Hunham, Lamb, and Tully feel organic and natural as a festive break like no other unfolds; it’s a Christmas of healing, endings, and new beginnings, where emerging friendships and love melt the ice of loneliness. Add Payne’s exquisite direction, Mark Orton’s sublime score, Eigil Bryld’s inspired cinematography, and The Holdovers becomes a cinematic treasure that deserves to be savoured like a fine wine.
The Holdovers isn’t just one of the best films of 2023; it’s one of the best Christmas films of the past twenty years. The Holdovers demonstrates that in a world of big-budget flops, superhero-sized disappointments and lazy pop culture nostalgia, we can still make films like we used to. It’s a shining light, a beacon of brilliance and a movie that will undoubtedly become a classic of modern cinema.
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