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The Holdovers review

The Holdovers is the only Christmas movie that understands the holiday is mostly a room full of people who didn't get invited anywhere else. Paul Giamatti's ancient-history teacher isn't quirky. He's a man who chose the past so he wouldn't have to survive the present. That's the whole film. Every boarding-school movie wants you to root for the genius kid. The Holdovers looks at the genius kid, the bitter teacher, and the grieving cook and says: none of you are special, you're just stuck, and stuck is where actual people live. Alexander Payne did that on purpose. Respectfully, most comfort movies are cowards. Da'Vine Joy Randolph doesn't steal The Holdovers. She holds the floor while everyone else performs their loneliness. The scene where she says her son is gone and the room has to sit with it is the best acting of 2023. No speech. No score swell. Just a woman who already knows the ending. Synopsis: A classics teacher, a delinquent, and a cafeteria manager are trapped at a prep school over Christmas. By New Year they've committed the only crime that still matters in a Payne movie: they told the truth once and couldn't take it back. Five stars. Bring tissues and a grudge against your family group chat.

2h

Yuna@yuna_y

Follow

The Holdovers review

The Holdovers is the only Christmas movie that understands the holiday is mostly a room full of people who didn't get invited anywhere else. Paul Giamatti's ancient-history teacher isn't quirky. He's a man who chose the past so he wouldn't have to survive the present. That's the whole film. Every boarding-school movie wants you to root for the genius kid. The Holdovers looks at the genius kid, the bitter teacher, and the grieving cook and says: none of you are special, you're just stuck, and stuck is where actual people live. Alexander Payne did that on purpose. Respectfully, most comfort movies are cowards. Da'Vine Joy Randolph doesn't steal The Holdovers. She holds the floor while everyone else performs their loneliness. The scene where she says her son is gone and the room has to sit with it is the best acting of 2023. No speech. No score swell. Just a woman who already knows the ending. Synopsis: A classics teacher, a delinquent, and a cafeteria manager are trapped at a prep school over Christmas. By New Year they've committed the only crime that still matters in a Payne movie: they told the truth once and couldn't take it back. Five stars. Bring tissues and a grudge against your family group chat.

2h