‘The Holdovers’ Gifts an Unexpected New Holiday Classic

The holidays are hard for many people. The nature of the season is supposed to yield merriment and yuletide joy. Yet if you find your life lacking in any area, those inadequacies rise to the surface and douse the holiday spirit.  In those moments, despite feeling isolated in one’s grief from the place you least expect it, peaks of joy abound. That joy is what makes The Holdovers an unexpected, soon-to-be holiday classic. 

The Holdovers opens at the beginning of winter break as students at the all-boys New England prep school, Barton Academy, prepare to head home to spend the holidays with their families. However, going home for the holidays isn’t always an option. Those students remain on campus and “hold over” until school resumes. 

After refusing to pass a failing student from an affluent family, curmudgeon adjunct professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is charged with watching over the children holding over during the holiday break. Thanks to one father, the held-over students are whisked away for holiday fun, except for one smart yet troublesome teen, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). Stuck together, Paul forms an unlikely bond with Angus and the school’s head cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving the loss of her only child, Curtis.  Unlike Paul and Angus, Mary chose to hold over. Her son was a recent graduate of Barton and was killed in Vietnam. Barton was the last place she spent time with her son. It serves as both a painful reminder and a place of comfort. 

The film’s title aptly explains the sentiment of the story. Our three main characters are holding over figuratively and metaphorically. They’re in this stasis due to their circumstance, be it fear of failure, acceptance of a new normal, or grief. Some of the best outcomes come after being forced into a less-than-desirable situation, and that’s true for our protagonists. What might’ve seemed like punishment turned out to be a moment in time that each one will cherish because it shook them loose, allowing for an outer influence to alter their perspective just enough to help them move forward. 

The way director Alexander Payne allows the story to unfold invites the audience to learn about each character while they learn about each other. The decision to shoot on film aids the nostalgia of the 1970s when the movie takes place. 

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Giamatti for the role of the cranky teacher. Although hard on students, Paul cares deeply for others even though he sometimes neglects to care for himself. In his first role, Sessa breaks out with his portrayal of Angus. His inner angst feels authentic, and with every inch Paul and Mary give, his hardened exterior slowly softens. Randolph’s Mary carries sorrow in her very speech. While battling her own grief, she still has hope to share with others, maybe in an effort that some will help her, too. 

The Holdovers is the Christmas film we never saw coming. There’s something truly special in the belief that everything happens for a reason. And no matter what things look like, there is hope, love, and joy to be had as long as we can endure the holdover. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars