The Holdovers | Film Review

A disliked teacher (Paul Giamatti) at a boarding school stays behind during Christmas break to look after a trouble-making student (Dominic Sessa), with the help of the school's head cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). What starts off as an annoying obligation becomes a life-changing experience, as the three form a bond they never expected. 

We are now into Oscar season! At the time of writing this, the nominations came out last week, and thankfully I guessed correctly that this film would be nominated for Best Picture.

I loved this film. So far this is probably my favourite of the Best Picture nominees (though there are some key movies I haven't seen yet).

For a start, just to get this out of the way, if I was in charge of the Academy, all of the main actors would walk out of that ceremony with an Oscar - especially Dominic Sessa, whose performance is extremely underrated.

I was completely entertained throughout the movie. It's not particularly long, around 2 hours 13 minutes, and while I felt all of that time, it definitely wasn't a bad thing. It was nice to spend 2 hours with these characters.

I loved that there were so many small things about the characters that came out throughout the film. It made them feel so authentic and complex, and really added a lot to what could have been a simple, bland story.

I took an instant liking to all the characters (even the ones that started off negatively). Though the only character I wanted a bit more of was Paul (Giamatti). I felt like he took the longest time to get to know, and ironically, he's the one I wanted to know the most.

But even saying that, the best thing about the characters is the way they work and blend together. Even the ones who aren't in it for long have their place and go a long way towards the film's authenticity. 

And a lot of this is down to how great the actors are. I didn't love all the performances, but the ones that I loved, I really loved.

The writing is amazing. There are certain lines that just stick with you - it's been over a week since I saw the movie and I'm still thinking about it. And getting emotional over it.

Overall, watch this film! It's poignant, emotional, authentic, and I really want to see it do well at the Oscars.

8/10