In what could be a surprise package for the 2024 Oscars, Payne’s new work features some of the most finely-tuned performances of the year as a cranky old teacher is forced to take care of a problematic student on a remote campus over the Christmas holidays.

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Paul Giamatti was so cute in this one that I felt like hugging him by the end of the film.  It is a testament to how good Alexander Payne’s latest film is, particularly in characterisation and performance. 

He plays a cranky old man though, Mr. Hunham, a history teacher who rarely leaves the campus, even during the holidays.  So he’s ‘kenna arrowed’ (Singlish for ‘unfortunately assigned’) to care for several youths who must stay behind for the Christmas period due to various family circumstances. 

One of them, Angus (played by the fantastic Dominic Sessa in his acting debut), a pain-in-the-ass student, finds it hard to accept Mr. Hunham’s eccentric methods of discipline and control. 

But it is Angus and Mary (the school cook who is in mourning after her son was killed in the Vietnam War) whom Mr. Hunham must contend—and learn to empathise—with. 

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Mary, has the best shot at snagging what could eventually be the film’s only Oscar win (for Best Supporting Actress), but truth be told, The Holdovers is the surprise package for this year’s awards season and will only grow in momentum. 

“I find the world a bitter and complicated place. And it seems to feel the same way about me.”

Giamatti, in particular, will most certainly push Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) all the way in the Best Leading Actor race. 

Bouncing back from the career-low that was Downsizing (2017), there is no doubt that Payne’s qualities as an actor’s director are on full display here.  A potent mix of pathos and humour, The Holdovers will make you laugh and cry, occasionally at the same time. 

Shot in a style reminiscent of American dramas from the ‘70s (some critics have made references to the work of Hal Ashby), Payne’s film somewhat reminds me of Ang Lee’s underappreciated The Ice Storm (1997), also a period piece that reflected the anxieties of the time, though the latter focuses more on the exploits of a family in crisis. 

Even without an acute sense of its ‘70s context, The Holdovers works extremely well as a ‘Christmas movie’—it’s enjoyable, insightful, warm, and ultimately, emotionally rewarding.

Grade: A-

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