The Holdovers

Showtimes December 1 - 7:

Final Two Shows: December 9 & 10

Mr. Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a prep school instructor who’s forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students who have nowhere to go. A man with a chip on his shoulder, he would likely be happier teaching classics to college students than ancient history to prep school teens, who it’s very clear he considers entitled little monsters. Luckily there’s a third party around to remind him this attitude is a little uncharitable, especially at the holidays. Kitchen manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who’s coping with the first Christmas without her son who was killed in Vietnam, is the film’s emotional core. With her as an influence, Hunham gradually forms a bond with one of the students – the damaged and brainy Angus Tully (newcomer Dominic Sessa). As the ice melts between them, the film becomes a conduit for something altogether deeper and more humane. Beyond its perfectly satisfying holiday-movie surface, this is a film about class and race, grief and resentment, opportunity and entitlement. And it’s a rare exception to the oft-heard complaint that “they don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

(US / 2023 / Directed by Alexander Payne)
R / 2 hrs 13 mins