The Holdovers

How dare this movie make me feel warm and fuzzy inside! What right did this movie have to evoke human emotion!? This movie had a lot of fucking nerve, A WHOLE LOT OF FUCKING LOT of nerve and brass balls to do so. I feel violated, used and I wish to see more movies especially Christmas movies do the same. Dammit!

The movie is quite simple. A prep school in New England is shutting down for winter break. Unfortunately a few kids won't be going home for the holidays for various reasons. Even more unfortunate, the teacher that drew the shortest straw is stuck babysitting. And it's the school hardass Mr. Paul "Walleye" Hunham. But what started off with 5 kids to look after, changes over to 1 kid being left behind during the holidays. The following days we see teacher and student bond and learn not just about each other, but what's missing in themselves. Oh not just those two, but the Head Lunchlady as well. Its a story that deals with abandonment, isolation from the world, loss, the world being unfair, friendship and moving forward.

First off, this screenplay is very good. Humans sound like humans. Or in the case of Mr. Hunham, like a man who doesn't keep alot of friends. The swearing in this movie was perfection. MOTHERFUCKING Perfection. It's like they were written in cursive. The acting is phenomenal. This is Dominic Sessa first movie and he smashes it. Da'Vine Joy Randolph came off so genuine. Her story is so heavy and heartbreaking but her performance isn't dragged out or overdone. Paul straight up crushed it. It one of those performances where he goes into it so naturally, you'll kinda forget he's playing a character. The final 15 minutes of the movie...thank you. DjTsu watched this during his time at the Toronto Film Festival and I(Dee) will echo his praises. Alexander Payne made a banger. Paul, Dominic and Da'Vine deserve roses. This is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. Period.

9/10

A MUST WATCH