From director and writer Alexander Payne, here we have one of 2023’s critical darlings. The Holdovers is a Christmas film of sorts, with its setting in December 1970 and themes of personal strife and bittersweet satisfaction set alongside Yuletide celebrations.
Payne previously directed the classic dark comedy Sideways (2004), this time returning with lead actor Paul Giamatti with a different take on curmudgeonly ways meeting personal revelations.
It’s dark, funny, sweet, and challenges themes such diversity, loneliness, and mental health. Let’s doff our caps to this one.
Contemplations on Life in The Holdovers
Now, if you think that trailer seems a little old-fashioned… you’d be correct. You don’t hear the deep voice guy narrator these days, but for The Holdovers it’s done deliberately.
The whole production is styled (in a kind of fourth-wall breaking way) as if it was filmed in 1970. The screen quality reflects that, including those black spots and marks flashing up on the film from back then, all to recreate a sense of being in the time. As this really is an old-fashioned type of ’70s movie.
The Holdovers is also one of those films we’ve seen curmudgeonly types grumble about being a film they’d like to watch, despite all other modern films being unwatchable because of the woke mob (see our are modern films rubbish? podcast for more on this).
Good for those darlings!
Anyway, yes, the film is set in Christmas of 1970 at a New England all-male boarding school. Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is a curmudgeonly (using that word a lot today!) literary classics teacher at the prestigious Barton Academy. He’s generally disliked by his students and peers due to his obstinate, pompous personality flaws.
However, each Christmas a group of students has to remain on campus (held over). This is down to a variety of reasons, such as being from a different country. But one, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), is there as his mother wants to keep him at arm’s length.
He’s very smart, but has emotional regulation difficulties and behaves like a brat.
Despite his protestations, Mr. Hunham is the chosen teacher for the year to stay on at Christmas and, essentially, babysit the small group of students stuck there. For two weeks.
Tully and Hunham clash immediately. Yet despite their mutual hatred, in time a more positive relationship develops with the teacher taking on the role of a mentor and father figure. But that’s only thanks to an ongoing series of misadventures such as this.
A sub-story amongst the above is with Barton Academy’s cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph on amazeballs form throughout). She’s just lost a son, killed in action during the Vietnam war, and must also now stay on with the holdovers to keep them fed.
She appears stoic in her handling of this tragedy, which she manages through a sardonic personality, but can be seen drinking quite heavily through much of the film.
As can Mr. Hunham, who appears permanently half-drunk on whiskey to manage his own personal demons. He’s in his late 50s, unmarried, and has had no long-term relationship.
Lamb, Tully, and Hunham bond somewhat merrily in this situation.
But the main driving force of the narrative is Hunham dropping (some) of his pretensions and actually doing a wider part of his teaching job. As in, teaching his student about how to approach his life and be his own person.
Much like Payne’s Sideways, a modern classic as it is, there aren’t major developments in the plot.
No explosions or aliens etc. It’s all about subtle character study and fleshing out how people can bond despite their differences, get along, and even learn from each other.
An important message to the world at this time with what’s ahead in 2025. Particularly in the form of Giamatti’s whining, “back in my day”, old fart. Over the course of The Holdovers, he discovers more about people, stops blamng “kids these days”, and grows to be a more caring and compassionate person. Funny how that can work, eh?
In many respects, we think the central theme of the film is grief. All three main characters are dealing with some major personal loss and are doing their best to muddle through the situation. Often just not very well.
The depiction of this is moving, funny, and relatable.
But we should add The Holdovers also has some of the best on-screen insults we’ve seen in cinema history. Very fine stuff, indeed!
And a great film. Some would argue this is a modern classic. We’ll certainly watch it a few more times to decide, but the fact we have the desire to do that underlines the quality of this production.
The Production of The Holdovers
Director Alexander Payne got the idea for the film after watching a French comedy drama called Merlusse (1935). He worked with screenwriter David Hemingson for the script, with the latter revealing some elements were semi-autobiographical.
And even lifted from his formative years word for word.
The film was shot in Massachusetts in January 2022 and wrapped up two months later. With its $13 million budget it went on to make back $45.6 million—only a modest result by today’s standards.
On the plus side for all involved, The Holdovers was a critical smash hit.
Named one of the best film of 2023, it also won two Golden Globes and stuff at the British Academy Film Awards. Da’Vine Joy Randolph also won Best Supporting Actress at both of those, quite rightly so for her brilliant performance. It also gained five Oscar nominations, with Randolph again bagging the award there! Good on her.
We also think The Holdovers is ready for instant cult classic status. Destined for it.
Not the type of film people will flock to in droves, but over time its popularity will surely grow. That’ll be a fitting tribute to its many excellent, biting, considered qualities.
