The Holdovers
Published December 30, 2025
Film info
- Title The Holdovers
- Director Alexander Payne
- Year 2023
- Run time 2hrs 3m
- Genres Drama, Comedy
- Tagline Discomfort and joy
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school 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 — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 4:24 | They’re really leaning into the classic films look. |
| 9:22 | The guy has a stuffed bear in his office, very creepy. |
| 12:06 | “Your only task is to ensure the boy’s absolute safety and wellbeing.” That’s quite a lot. |
| 20:15 | Boarding school really sucks. |
| 24:02 | Love selling the Christmas tree back to the lot. |
| 31:50 | “Sit down, come on, broaden your horizons.” With the Newlywed Game. |
| 40:19 | Aw, Tully is nice really. |
| 45:42 | “You can’t even dream a whole dream, can you?” |
| 55:23 | Dislocated shoulders are so awful to view on screen. |
| 1:01:40 | “I don’t always give consideration to my audience.” That’s one way of putting it. |
| 1:11:26 | I want a tree that commemorates the moon landing! |
| 1:18:58 | I’m going to start calling it cocktail flu from now on. |
| 1:26:47 | I sort of feel like you should ask someone before putting stuff in their draws. |
| 1:36:16 | “He’s not entitled to my story.” |
| 2:01:22 | They call him ’the boy’ a lot. |
Thoughts
Absolutely loved this. The timing of its availability means we have been waiting so long to watch it that the anticipation was quite high - thankfully it delivered. I wasn’t sure it was going to, with the opening titles that were so very 70s, and quite a slow start. But it grows on you and gradually gets warmer and more heart-warming, even as these characters are opening up about their difficult lives. At the end, that small handshake between the lead characters was so much bigger than some of the huge professions of love and hugs that other Christmas movies finish with. It was wonderful.
Rating: 5 / 5
