THE HOLDOVERS: Everybody hurts

It looks and feels like it was made in the 1970s, and shares that decade’s fascination with outliers, for the main trio are nothing if not outliers. The premise, borrowed from the 1935 French film Merlusse, is thus: The year is 1970. At an all-boys boarding school in New England, an unpopular teacher, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), is babysitting “the holdovers” over Christmas break. These are the kids who have nowhere to go and have to stay at school. Soon, through a series of fluky events, only one student, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) remains. Teacher and student are accompanied only by the school cook, Mary Lamb (Da’vine Joy Randolph), and occasionally by the janitor, Danny (Naheem Garcia). As they all get to know each other better, their quirks and heartaches are exposed, and they form an uneasy family. But this is no Hallmark cheesefest. Director Alexander Payne and writer David Hemingson are interested in something more surprising and authentic than that, and everyone involved delivers.

Giamatti completely embodies the bitter teacher who believes he should be ensconced in the Ivy League, his arrogance and cynicism hiding a lonely life. I feel the scene with school administrator Lydia (Carrie Preston) at her Christmas party perfectly encapsulates both his pain and his inability to change his circumstances. Randolph as Mary will destroy you. She is the most well-adjusted character, but her life hasn’t been easy. She has endured a lot as a Black woman working in an upper-crust all-white boys’ school so that her son could attend. Then her son was killed in Vietnam. Randolph takes a potential stereotype and makes her a living, breathing woman. Sessa as Tully is given the least to do, but he embodies a privileged, isolated, angry teen who, we shall see, is dealing with his own issues. These are all people you might meet in real life, and without indulging in spoilers, the ending is one of the most plausible I’ve seen in a while as well.

The authenticity extends to the settings, costumes, and production design. I have limited memories of the ’70s but when Lydia appeared in a scene near the end of the film, her outfit was so on point that I gasped. I was surprised to learn that The Holdovers was shot on an ARRI Alexa. All the film effects such as grain, halation, dirt, and gate weave were added in post-production. Equally surprising, only real locations were used. No sets or green screen!

Since I saw this film in October 2023, the film and its actors have racked up a slew of awards and nominations, including Oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Actor (Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Randolph), Best Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), and Best Film Editing (Kevin Tent), all well-deserved. Regardless of its eventual statuary haul, this film is an instant classic, destined to be re-watched during the holidays every year.