The Holdovers

Hey everyone and welcome today we will be talking about the film The Holdovers. Fun Fact, this is Dominic Sessa’s big screen debut. This film came out in 2023 and stars Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa and was directed by Alexander Payne. So without further ado let’s get right into it.

The Holdovers follows a teacher, a student, and a cook who are all stuck at a boarding school during the holidays for various reasons.

The Holdover is a comedy drama. It has similar vibes to The Edge of 17, The Breakfast Club, or Good Will Hunting.

So let me start out by saying that I wasn’t even planning on watching this movie. To be honest it didn’t look interesting but one night I was in a bad mood and I for some reason opened peacock where it was streaming and it was the first thing that popped up and I said whatever i’ll watch and by the end of it I wasn’t angry anymore and I really enjoyed the movie. Each character in this movie was like an onion, filled with layer after layer and by the end of the film there were no more layers left to explore. Even though the timeline of events was small they all benefitted from each other.

Paul Giamatti was great as Paul,  this teacher who takes his job way to serious and lacks sympathy and understanding for his students. We see how this affects his relationships inside and outside of work and as the film goes on he realizes from spending so much time with Angus that not all these kids at this school are entitled brats and some are smart and some have things in their life that is affecting their behavior. We also learn that he never graduated from college due to some Harvard legacy student framing him for plagiarism and him hitting them which probably explains why he pushes these students so hard and doesn’t give them a break just because their parents are rich.  It was such a nice conclusion to see him risk his job to make sure Angus was able to continue learning because even though Angus’s mom doubted him, Paul knew that there was something good with this kid and wanted to make sure that he had the best possible future. In some ways with the Christmas time setting and him slowly becoming niceras the film goes on, he reminded me of the grinch.

There was a moment after the Christmas Eve party where Paul was talking about how he wished Angus’s  mom or dad would come and pick him up because he didn’t want to spend Christmas babysitting him and Angus lets him know his dad was dead. Even though we find out later that his dad is alive Mary reprimands Paul for speaking the way he is because you never know what people are going through which is something everyone could do to remember when speaking to people. This is also a theme I notice throughout the film with these characters, they’re all battling their own demons.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was exceptional as Mary who truly is just trying to get through life and find her purpose after loosing her son who also attended the boarding school. We see how she worked to provide a better life for her son and how some of the kids treat her bad but she keeps on pushing. For most of the film she puts on a strong exterior but there was a moment at the Christmas Eve party where she has a little breakdown which was heartbreaking. I loved how she was always making sure that Paul was treating Angus right because she knew he wasn’t a bad kid and had this motherly instinct that he had something going on in his life.  I feel like at the end of the movie even though Paul was gone she would still look after Angus.

Dominic Sessa was fantastic as Angus and I was even more shocked to find out that this was his big screen debut. I think it’s one thing to be a good actor but I can only imagine its intimidating to come in with these established actors and honestly I think that he really did a good job at holding his own. I loved finding out more about this character and I feel like a lot of the emotional moments centered around his character. When we meet his mom and stepdad at the end I felt so sad for his character because instead of being a champion for him they just neglect him and fear he’s going to become like his father. I could tell in the beginning of the movie that he was a smart ass but he was also hiding something and we come to find out his life is in shambles. It was nice that he spends this time with Paul and Mary because I truly think he needed someone to remind him that he’s not a screw up and that not all the adults in his life will fail him like his mom did.

There was a scene at the end where Mary and Angus are waiting to hear what happens after Paul talks to Angus mom and stepdad and it was a heartbreaking scene but Mary and Angus don’t say much but they did a great job of using their body language to express the emotions in this scene. Angus seems to finally find a place where he is happy after his winter experience and is scared that its all going to be ripped away while Mary comes and can just tell that he doesn’t need a talk but just needs someone to sit there with him and comfort him. When I think of this movie there are a couple of scenes that stand out and this is one of them because it brought out so many emotions without saying a word.

The film is set in the 70’s and they did a good job of making sure the aspect ratio made it feel like you were watching a movie from that time. With it being set in that time period that also incorporated some things that would be normal like the lack of talking about mental illness and black women cooking as their job and a black man being the janitor as well as the dynamic between female and male colleagues of the time. The film did a great job getting the feel and look of the time period down.

While this is a film with some great dramatic moments, it also offers some good laughs. I think my favorite moment that made me laugh is the very serious moment when Angus dislocates his shoulder and Paul must take him to the hospital. It starts with Paul chasing Angus who is trying to arrange a way to not spend the rest of his break with Paul and a funny chase happens but Angus dislocates his shoulder in the end. The moment of Paul trying to figure if it’s real and then trying to get to the hospital was funny with them yelling at each other and stressing about the situation that they are in.

My favorite part of this movie is probably the moment where Angus tries to sneak off to see his dad and Paul lets him. At first I was disappointed at Angus for lying to Paul again but I told myself to see whats going to happen because he might have a good reason and he did. It’s an emotional moment because Angus told Paul before this that his dad is dead but we realize he’s not dead and is in a mental institution and I think he avoided telling him because of the stigma that mental health had during the 70’s and was probably scared of being judged. He is so excited to see his dad which was nice to see and the moment after his visit at the restaurant is great because Angus opens up to Paul and tells him what happened and gives the viewer insight onto why this character is like he is. It’s towards the end of the film and it’s a scene to me that had some great acting and really pulled out the emotions of the viewer. Mary eventually joins them and at this moment I just thought that the characters each grew tremendously from the time we met them til that moment and have all helped each other in some way. The ending of this scene was nice to see them bonding over a failed attempt at cherries jubilee in the parking lot.

The holdovers is a fantastic movie where everyone really pulls their weight. There’s some moments where your like this is a feel good movie, some when your’e like oh this movie is making me laugh, and some where you’re like wait am I crying. Didn’t expect to love this movie as much as I did but I’m glad I watched it.