With the holiday season now behind us, the weeks set aside for watching movies centered around the most wonderful time of the year have come to an end. Films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story are certainly only meant for the days leading up to – and perhaps directly following – December 25, but there are other holiday titles that we’d argue could be watched year-round. One of those movies will graduate to a new streaming home next month, as Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers lands on Peacock on February 28.
Featuring an impressive trio of co-leading performances from Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the movie isn’t just about the joy of Christmas, but is also a coming-of-age tale for each of its main characters. With plenty of critical acclaim – including a few Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA wins – The Holdovers is an absolute must-watch, but just be sure you have a box of tissues handy.
What Is ‘The Holdovers’ About?
The Holdovers immediately transports audiences to the 1970s, with Payne sparing no expense at giving the movie the full vibe of the decade. What we mean by this is that you not only see things as they were then, but also fully feel like you’re watching a movie that came out 50 years ago. The film centers around Giamatti’s Paul Hunham, a classics teacher at a prestigious boarding school called Barton Academy. Hunham is one of the least-liked educators at the school by both peers and pupils, so he certainly isn’t shocked when he draws the short straw and ends up stuck playing babysitter for the students who won’t be going home for the holidays.
This group – known as the holdovers – includes a young man named Angus Tully (Sessa) who has been left behind by his mother and her new husband as they go on a honeymoon. After the rest of the holdover kids receive permission from their guardians to go on a skiing trip, it’s just Angus and Mr. Hunham left, with cafeteria worker, Mary Lamb (Randolph), also sticking around for the holidays. Even though no one wants to be there and the disdain between Angus and Mr. Hunham is palpable, the trio change one another’s lives for the better by the time classes pick up in the New Year.
With the near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%, The Holdovers is certainly worth the watch when it arrives on Peacock on February 28 – even if it technically is a holiday film.
The Holdovers
- Release Date
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November 10, 2023
- Runtime
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133 Minutes
- Director
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Alexander Payne
- Writers
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David Hemingson