Retail stores blast Christmas music as we shop for the presents we plan to give our loved ones on the special day… except some people might not have this privilege. Christmas is often represented as a time for joy and happiness but also allows an opportunity to reflect. A time to look at the year that has passed and most importantly the people that were beside us during it all. Who are the family and friends that shaped our year? When the festive season rolls around, we want to share it with those we adore. Family has always played an integral part in celebrating Christmas.
But Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers represents a side of Christmas we often overlook. Sometimes, we don’t have the family we yearn to have with us during this time. This could be for many reasons, and this movie explores the loneliness the three main characters feel as they spend two weeks with each other over the holidays. It is a film that touches on many themes such as grief, abandonment and seclusion and has all the heart to be a Christmas classic for years to come.
The Holdovers stars Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, a classics teacher at an all-boys boarding school in New Hampshire in 1970. He’s strict and generally unliked by the student cohort. He is forced to remain on-site during the holiday break to supervise any students who remain as “the holdovers” on campus, as they have nowhere to go during the Christmas break. Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) is one of those students after he learns his mother is going on a holiday with her new husband. Paul doesn’t remain as the only staff on site and is accompanied by the cafeteria manager, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who is grieving the loss of her son who had died in the Vietnam War and was a former student at the college.
All three characters deal with internal challenges and being stuck spending the holidays together allows them to grow a meaningful bond. The film focuses on the trope of a found family and presents a beautiful depiction of the festive season for three individuals who would otherwise feel lonely at this time of year. They may not be with the people they yearn to be with but they do have each other and together they overcome the things they’re struggling with.
Paul, despite being forced to remain on the grounds, has stayed at Barton Academy for most of his life — and once was a student there. He’s an only child with his mother dying when he was young and his father out of the picture. He is extremely lonely; he doesn’t have a partner or any family to share a joyous Christmas with. Then there’s Angus, who is rebellious and has been kicked out of three previous schools. He is on the brink of being sent to a military school if he misbehaves again. He is initially presented as arrogant but wants nothing more than to regain the family he once had. He carries a picture of his mum and dad with him, but his mum has turned all her attention to her new husband.
But what makes this movie so special is the struggles all three characters face are things we all experience as humans. These are things we may deal with at any time of the year, but the Christmas setting makes the absence of our loved ones feel greater. Where we often expect to gather around the dining room table with family, exchanging gifts and sharing laughs, these three characters don’t experience this with their own family as many would also in real life. As Mary states, “everybody should be with their people on Christmas.”
It’s an absence I myself have felt for a few years now. Though I am both grateful and privileged to spend the festive season alongside my parents and sister, we miss the larger family Christmas parties we used to have growing up with our extended family here. Despite having some family across the world, it does feel like there is a greater distance from the aunts and cousins I have within a drive away from me. We’ve also had some losses in the past few years that have made this time of the year quite emotional, particularly for my mum. We still share our Christmas lunch and presents but my family has felt an absence for quite some time now that I hope will change within the next year. But I think this time of the year is also to make the most of those you have by your side, whether they are blood-related or not…
That is what the characters from The Holdovers do. Paul, Angus and Mary spend Christmas and the New Year together. They share a Christmas dinner that was prepared by Mary, which Angus greatly appreciates. He explains that a family-style Christmas with food out of the oven and all the trimmings wasn’t something he had back home. His mother would order food instead. Paul also brings them a tree, gives them gifts and they light up a firecracker on New Year's Eve together as a unit. They did not expect to have each other during this time of the year, but their company helps them appreciate what they have.
The Holdovers is a delightful film that should be a Christmas classic as it's a heartfelt depiction of our longing for loved ones during this time of year. It presents us with three individuals from all walks of life with internal struggles many can relate to. Grief and loneliness are universal experiences and this movie tackles these themes with sincerity and a sense of humour. Many Christmas films focus on the importance of family, but The Holdovers shines a light on these three beloved characters who form an unlikely family unit and learn to cherish the festive season together. Not every family is whole, and not every house is a home but Christmas is about spending time with those you love, whether that be blood or friends.
edited by Cameron Cade
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