The Holdovers (CTC)

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows teacher Paul Hunham who nobody likes – not his students, not his fellow faculty, not the headmaster, who all find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With no family and nowhere to go over Christmas holiday in 1970, Paul remains at school to supervise students unable to journey home. After a few days, only one student holdover remains - a trouble-making 15-year-old named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary – an African American woman who caters to sons of privilege and whose own son was recently lost in Vietnam.

These three very different shipwrecked people form an unlikely Christmas family sharing comic misadventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey is how they help one another understand that they are not beholden to their past-they can choose their own futures.

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Carrie Preston, Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Director: Alexander Payne

★★★★★ "There’s something comforting and soothing about watching these three strangers become a found family, despite their differences and difficulties." TOTAL FILM

★★★★ "It turns a wintry film into a heartwarming tale about a trio who find a way, by hook or by crook, to get through Christmas together." EVENING STANDARD

★★★★ "The director makes a welcome return to form with a warm and melancholic 70s-set comedy drama led by a trio of note-perfect performances" GUARDIAN

★★★★ "a tremendously poignant story, beautifully presented in muted colours and a grainy texture, as if to give the impression that it was made at the time it is set." DAILY MAIL UK

★★★★ "Alexander Payne’s best film since Sideways" DAILY TELEGRAPH UK

★★★★ "One of Payne's strongest films in years...it is an unexpectedly heartwarming gem of a film." FLICK FEAST