A warmly funny, melancholy character piece with sharp period detail and unusually humane performances. It balances cranky comedy, grief, and hard-won connection without becoming sentimental.
The Holdovers
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Comedy
Fri · 2h 13m
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Overview
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school 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 — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Director
Alexander Payne
Cast
Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Curator Review
Verdict
A warmly funny, melancholy character piece with sharp period detail and unusually humane performances. It balances cranky comedy, grief, and hard-won connection without becoming sentimental.
Best for
fans of bittersweet holiday movies
viewers who like character-driven ensemble dramas
people drawn to boarding-school or academia settings
audiences who appreciate dry, adult comedy with emotional payoff
fans of understated coming-of-age stories
Skip if
you want fast pacing or big plot twists
you dislike melancholy under the holiday trappings
you prefer broad, joke-heavy comedies
you need a purely feel-good Christmas movie
Overview
The Holdovers is the kind of movie that sneaks up on you: at first it looks like a cranky, old-school holiday dramedy, then it reveals how carefully it’s built around loneliness, shame, and the small acts that make people feel seen. Alexander Payne keeps the tone wry and observant, letting the humor come from friction and specificity rather than punchlines.
Worth noting
Paul Giamatti gives the film its brittle center, but the movie really lives in the chemistry between the three leads. Dominic Sessa brings a restless, prickly vulnerability, while Da’Vine Joy Randolph supplies the emotional gravity that keeps the story from drifting into nostalgia. Their scenes together make the film feel lived-in and deeply compassionate.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the movie’s patience. It understands that healing is awkward, often funny, and rarely tidy. The result is a winter story that feels both classic and fresh: a modest film with a big emotional afterglow.
Top Letterboxd reviews
James (Schaffrillas) (5★) · 53001 likes
There's a handshake in this that feels more overwhelmingly warm and emotional than most hugs I've seen in movies
patrick (4.5★) · 40538 likes
paul giamatti ran that twink academy like its the navy
Jay (4★) · 29287 likes
men were remembering the roman empire daily in the 1970s
jeaba (4.5★) · 25842 likes
STOP LETTING THAT BOY USE THE BATHROOM
Karsten (4.5★) · 21086 likes
hit it out of the park for me, probably goes even harder with a bowl of soup
Themes
grief, found family, loneliness, compassion, coming of age, class tension, boarding school life, holiday melancholy
Topics
holiday drama, dramedy, boarding school, grief, found family, 1970s period piece, coming-of-age, character study, melancholy, warm humor