Movie Review | 'The Holdovers' 

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​​​​"The Holdovers" is director Alexander Payne's first movie in six years, and a welcome return-to-form after 2017's miscalculated, high-concept "Downsizing." In his latest, Payne is working at a tempo he's familiar (and comfortable) with, which doesn't necessarily challenge him as a filmmaker, but after his last movie it's nice for the director to return to what he does best.

Payne (who typically writes or co-writes his screenplays) directs a script by David Hemingson, who’s making his feature film debut. Hemingson's credits primarily include television, which makes "The Holdovers" that much more of a surprise. The story could have played like a wacky sitcom, but Hemingson's script and Payne's direction give the movie a beautiful, lived-in quality and allow for the main characters to feel like fully realized people.


Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Hunham, an object of hate for students at the fictional prep school Barton Academy. Is Paul mean? (The students would choose to use different and more colorful language here.) Not necessarily — but he isn't the warmest person, either. He expects his students to be as interested in ancient history as he is, a big ask, because most are just in a hurry to leave for Christmas break.

Not all of the students leave for the holidays, and Paul is in charge of staying on campus to watch a small group of students known as ‘holdovers.’ Even though it's Christmas and everyone else has left, Paul keeps the holdover students on a rigid schedule. All of that changes when one of the rich parents flies everyone out to go skiing but Paul isn't able to get a hold of Angus's (played by Dominic Sessa) parents for permission. Their already small group gets even smaller, leaving only Paul, Angus and Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), who oversees the cafeteria, behind.

On the surface, "The Holdovers" flirts with being a cloying comedy-drama about a found family. But the movie is deeper and richer than that, mostly through the characterizations of Paul, Angus, and Mary, who are all more than they appear. Giamatti has made a career out of playing a curmudgeon, so a role like Paul comes easily to him, but that doesn't make it any less affecting. Randolph is the movie's beating heart, as a woman who is navigating life after the recent loss of her son. Sessa makes his acting debut in "The Holdovers," in a surprisingly impressive depiction of pain and depth in Angus. Sessa is one of the great acting discoveries of the year.

It's been 19 years since Payne's "Sideways," which also starred Giamatti, and it remains the best work of both the director and actor, respectively. Giamatti's performance as Paul works in tandem with his role as Miles in "Sideways," and each movie gives the characters similar trajectories. It would be easy to write off Giamatti as repeating himself, but it feels almost like Paul and Miles are in conversation with one another — "The Holdovers" is a spiritual continuation of his previous performance.

"The Holdovers" could have used some tightening up in its last act (the movie clocks in at 133 minutes) but this is an enjoyable world in which to live. The 1970s set aesthetic — from the opening production banners to the production design itself — never plays like a gimmick, but establishes a warm sense of place for the movie. It feels pandering to call a movie cozy, but it's the best way to describe "The Holdovers," easily one of the best movies of 2023.

"The Holdovers" opens at The Little Theatre, and nationwide, on Friday, Nov. 10.

Matthew Passantino is a freelance contributor t o CITY. Feedback about this article can be directed to [email protected].