While there are plenty of movies to catch up with during the holiday break, I recommend you make time for The Holdovers. The Alexander Payne-directed (Election, Sideways, Nebraska) comedic drama stars Paul Giamatti in one of his most outstanding roles, with Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite Is My Name, The Lost City, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) and Dominic Sessa in his feature film debut. The Holdovers is already available on PVOD, but it’s coming to Peacock on December 29.
Some people enjoy spending holidays alone, but for others, it’s a painful reminder of having no one else to share the merriment and make new memories. In Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Paul Giamatti’s Paul Hunham learns the value of opening his heart to a troubled student during a lonely Christmas break. The feature marks a welcomed return for Payne, whose previous directorial effort was for the social satire Downsizing, starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, and Hong Chau.
Here is the official synopsis for The Holdovers, courtesy of Focus Features:
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt), The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who 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 (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
Payne directs from a script by David Hemingson (Whiskey Cavalier, Uncle Buck, Traffic Light), with Mark Johnson, Heminson, and Bill Block producing. Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra, and Chris Stinson executive produce.
JoBlo’s managing editor and reviewer, Chris Bumbray, gave The Holdovers a 10/10 review earlier this year. In his review, Chris says the film “will rank highly for me on my list of the best films of the year. Outside of Oppenheimer, I can’t remember being as instantly absorbed with a movie as I was with this one over the course of 2023. I think for many of us, this will be destined to become a future comfort movie, and I know I’ll return to a lot in the years to come.”
Don’t miss your chance to see The Holdovers when it debuts on Peacock on December 29, 2023.