The Holdovers

What’s so impressive about the holdovers is how it shines in its simplicity, it's a pretty standard story of found family, but it's so pure and effortless in its execution it might as well be one of the best versions of this story put to screen. The film feels plucked right out of the 70s, both in its filmmaking, which is just gorgeously crisp and perfectly captures the isolation of the school and the warmth found through people, and in its characterisation. It's such a wildly genius move to place this story in the 70s, it just weirdly fits this time period, the story would be so different had it been modern. Letting all character’s deal with isolationism in this way, not in an ever connected and yet isolated in a different way we live now, allows the exploration of self far more than a modern film would allow.

I find what people are saying to be so true, this is a new classic, and it's rare we get a film like that now. I didn't realise how emotionally moved I would be. I spent a solid half of this film glass eyed and burst out sobbing on multiple occasions. I really just found this film so moving, and it's not explicit like many films which pull on you are, it’s all in subtitles of acting, the little lines of dialogue, in how we slowly learn more about these characters as they do about each other.

This screenplay is near flawless. I think Paul one of the most brilliantly conceived characters in cinema of recent, just utterly perfect in every line and his journey was so fun to watch. This clearly wouldn't be near as good were it not for Paul Giamatti's incredible performance. I have no idea how his performance could be so comedic and yet harbour such deep emption under everything he says. Giamatti makes him feel so realised that when he does these small little things, I was sobbing.

Dominic Sessa was also wonderful and his dynamic with Giamatti was just so fun to watch. I mean he was honestly as strong as him, he made comedy and sadness blend so well. I mean the standout is Da'Vine Joy Randolph however, wow. She has not as much to work with but everything she did I felt so deeply I really just felt as if I was viewing reality. She had a way of just making everything she did feel so natural and what a performance.

Really have so much love for this warm story, what a beautiful movie