1 of 2023's Best Movies Was an Instant Christmas Classic (2025)

Throughout time, Christmas and holiday movies became staples of December. Rewatching It’s a Wonderful Life became tradition in many homes, and cable channels constantly play reruns of Home Alone, A Christmas Story, and Elf once the calendar finally says December 1st. In recent years, however, it seemed like the well had dried up when it came to a new popular Christmas film that would transcend generations. While Hallmark Channel and Netflix churn out new holiday rom-coms every year, there was rarely, if ever, a Christmas movie that drew in wide audiences and actually lasted more than two weeks in the pop culture lexicon.

That all changed in October 2023, when The Holdovers hit theaters and captured the hearts of audiences and critics-and the Christmas spirit. The story of an unlikely found-family navigating the happiness and heartbreak the holiday season could bring instantly won over moviegoers, even earning actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The Holdovers became a holiday classic thanks to its strong, pervasive atmosphere and its well-crafted and lovable characters.

The Holdovers Crafted the Perfect Holiday Atmosphere

Following a curmudgeon of a history teacher Paul, Mary, a grieving head cook, and Angus, a lonely, angry student all left behind at the private Barton Academy for winter break in 1970, The Holdovers told the story of Christmas time connection and how their unexpected friendships changed all three of their lives for the better. While many holiday films attempted to capture the magic of the Christmas season, very few did so beyond some fake snow, colorful strings of lights, and the occasional Christmas carol playing in the background. The Holdovers opened up in a similar way, full of lingering shots of snow gently falling down on a small New England town before disappearing into the churning waves of a small waterfall, coupled with the school’s choir singing ‘Oh Little Town of Bethlehem’. The students were buzzing with energy as the semester came to an end, the frosty December air practically crackling through the screen and sinking into the bones of audiences.

What else set The Holdovers apart from its more festive counterparts was the way it captured the melancholy that the Christmas season can bring about for many. The holiday season wasn’t always merry and bright for everyone; often, it brought harrowing reminders of broken families, lost loved ones, and the lack of a physical and emotional home. For Paul, Christmas was a stark reminder that he didn’t have any true friends or family to spend the season with. For Mary, it was another special occasion she couldn’t spend with her son, who was killed in combat during the Vietnam War. And for Angus, it was having to hear his mother tell him via a phone call that she would be on a trip with his stepmother instead of spending Christmas with him. That lingering, chilling sadness that the characters felt thawed when they were together, but it didn’t magically vanish either. The holidays were a complicated time for them, just like they have been for many people throughout the centuries.

The Holdovers also captured this feeling off campus. When Paul, Mary, and Angus go to a Christmas party, Paul sat alone as he watched the woman he liked kiss someone else, Mary drank too much and cried about her son, and Angus grew agitated at having to leave early. Even at such a joyous event, the sorrow December brought prevailed. Still, the film wasn’t completely hopeless in tone. The characters found moments of true happiness with one another. Mary attended her sister’s Christmas Day gathering. Paul and Angus went to Boston and shared a day of sightseeing together. The trio had a memorable dinner that started with Paul giving Angus words of encouragement and ended with the three of them making homemade cherries jubilee in the parking lot, only to set the entire dessert on fire. In a way, their time together was just like that flaming dessert: messy, but ultimately driven by true care and compassion for one another.

The Characters Were the Beating Heart of the Film

Every long-standing Christmas movie was only as good as its characters, and The Holdovers had three impeccably written and acted leads. Paul Hunham, portrayed by the always-excellent Paul Giamatti, was initially a difficult protagonist to get attached to. He didn’t give his students any leeway despite the holidays coming up, he was a bit socially awkward, and he didn’t seem like he cared all that much about his students. As the film went on, however, his softer, caring side came out the more time he spent with Angus and Mary. He bought a Christmas tree for the dining hall, he gave them copies of one of his favorite books, and he offered both of them words of encouragement and support. He wasn’t merely an overly strict, by-the-books professor, but a lonely man who wanted companionship. His character arc culminated at the end of the film when he took the blame for Angus going to see his father in a psychiatric hospital despite the teen planning it himself while the pair were in Boston. By doing so, Paul lost his job, but ensured Angus would stay at Barton and finish high school.

Angus himself was quite the opposite of Paul. He defied the rules, talked back to authority, and seemingly had little interest in both his education and making the most of his winter break trapped at school, Brought to life perfectly by newcomer actor Dominic Sessa, Angus’s frustration with the world and the tangled web of his teenage angst he was trapped in felt not only realistic, but also something viewers could get on board with. Everyone remembered what it felt like to be sixteen, scared of the future, and lost in the world. Angus didn’t cause trouble for the sake of it; he was acting out because he couldn’t get attention or love at home. He was secretly book smart and performed well in Paul’s notoriously difficult class, and as the story continued, he turned softer and became more open. He was simply a lonely child looking for connection and guidance, and both Mary and Paul were able to offer that to him. Sessa held his own against veteran actors, proving himself one to watch in the coming years.

The film’s true emotional core came from Mary, the school cook, thanks to Randolph’s deeply moving and award-winning performance. When audiences first met her, she was more quiet and observational, lost in the sea of her grief and the pain of losing her only child. As the story unfolded, we saw she was more than just her grief. She also supported Angus, making him laugh and cooking a massive Christmas dinner for the three of them to share. Audiences saw her hesitation at pursuing a relationship with the school janitor who clearly liked her and going to her pregnant sister’s house for the holiday. Eventually, she made the difficult choice to keep living her life despite the grief that would never quite leave her. In one of the film’s most emotional scenes, she opened a box she’d been keeping in her closet the whole runtime, finally showing viewers her son’s baby clothes that she would pass on to her pregnant sister. Mary was the beating heart of The Holdovers and helped make the film memorable and special.

The Holdovers Earned its Place Atop The Cinematic Christmas Tree

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The Best Movies of 2023 (So Far)

While plenty more forgettable Christmas films will come and go, The Holdovers will stay in the seasonal viewing rotation of many moviegoers. Thanks to a melancholic yet merry atmosphere and three unforgettable characters, the film showed that new Christmas classics were still capable of getting made. Holiday movies didn’t have to be flashy or covered with glitter and presents to stand out. As long as a film had characters the audience could connect with and enough hope for even the biggest of Scrooges to cling onto during December, that film would earn its rightful place in the classic Christmas movie lineup, and that was exactly what The Holdovers did.

While certainly not the last Christmas classic to be made, The Holdovers proved the holiday spirit could stay alive and continue to grow every holiday season. While 2024 hasn’t yet offered any equivalent, the film will continue to be viewed by old and new audiences and will bring some Christmas spirit to all who watch.

The Holdovers is now streaming on Prime Video.

The Holdovers

R

Comedy

Drama

Holiday

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school's head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.

Where to Watch

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*Availability in US

Director

Alexander Payne

Release Date

November 10, 2023

Cast

Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston

Writers

David Hemingson

Runtime

133 Minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Production Company

Studio(s)

MiraMax, Gran Via

Distributor(s)

Focus Features