The Holdovers

Beautifully bittersweet, The Holdovers marks a satisfying return to form for director Alexander Payne.

The story follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go.

Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Legitimately one of the best Christmas movies ever made. It’s also the perfect Wes Anderson movie for people who don’t like Wes Anderson.

Cute and touching if not laugh-out-loud hilarious, The Holdovers is a thought-provoking dramedy for viewers seeking a dialogue-driven movie with a throwback feel.

Comedy, Drama
United States (English)
2h 13min