The Holdovers – Film Review

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston,

Director: Alexander Payne

Synopsis: A prep school student must remain on campus over the Christmas holidays with his history professor and the school’s head cook…

Review: Christmas is a usually celebratory and special time of the year when families can get together, exchange gifts, relax and unwind after a busy 12 months prior. However, for some people, this may not be the case. For a multitude of reasons, they might not have anywhere to go. It is a difficult predicament at the best of times, particularly for anyone forced to spend the holidays at an educational institution, such as a boarding school. Such a premise on paper doesn’t sound like it would be ripe material for a heart-warming Christmas film, but the latest film from Alexander Payne is exactly that, a warm hug of a film and one that will surely cement itself as a staple of the holiday season every year.

It is Christmas 1970, and cantankerous classics professor Paul Hunham (Giamatti) at the Barton Academy in Massachusetts is tasked by the school’s headmaster to remain on campus to look after and supervise a select group of boys who have nowhere else to go, leaving them rather dismayed. Though when circumstances change and most of the students are allowed to depart thanks to one of their parents, it leaves only Paul, the school’s head cook Mary Lamb (Randolph) and the bright but troubled Angus Tully (Sessa) as the only people remaining on campus through the holidays, the latter duo having both recently lost close members of their family.

Right from the opening titles, which are recreated in the style of the 1970s, the audience is immediately transported into the spirit of the holiday season that gives you such a warm fuzzy feeling that very few times of the year could. The screenplay by David Hemingson, who based it on his own personal experience at a prep school, is filled with razor-sharp wit and humour, while also building poignant and emotional moments between its three main characters as they navigate having to spend the Christmas holidays in the one place they probably wish they could be as far away from as humanly possible.

Reuniting with Payne after they collaborated on 2004’s Sideways, Giamatti excels in a role that was almost certainly written with him in mind given he shares his name with his character. He is well aware that among the students, and even the faculty, he’s thoroughly despised for his strict approach to his job, but it doesn’t faze him at all and almost revels in it. His prickly attitude lends itself to difficult early moments between him and Angus, an unquestionably bright but troubled student going through a troubled moment in his life. To add insult to injury, he has been left behind by his family at the worst possible time. However as they spend more time with each other, the two build an unlikely friendship as they get to know each other’s past and understand the other’s perspective. It’s remarkable to think this is Sessa’s first screen performance and to act alongside Giamatti going toe-to-toe with a veteran of the industry, but he rises to this challenge spectacularly. Randolph completes the trifecta of magnificent performances as she brings warmth and heart to this group, showing compassion for Angus and his difficult situation, and rebuking Paul for his unnecessarily strict attitude towards Angus, all while grieving for the loss of her son.

If the opening titles weren’t enough to help set the scene and make the audience feel like they have time-travelled back to the 1970s themselves, the cinematography from Eigil Bryld beautifully captures the time period as if the filmmakers were using antique cameras and equipment to establish the 1970s setting. Similarly, the film juxtaposes the warmth and cosiness of the holiday season even in the midst of a place which is the antithesis of those two adjectives, while also capturing the cold depths of the Massachusetts winter. In modern times, films which are not part of an existing franchise, or not based on a book or already established source material are increasingly rare these days. As such they should be treasured like a special Christmas present, even more so considering the film contains one off the best insults you will ever hear on film.

Just as Christmas is one of the most joyous times of the year, The Holdovers is fittingly a joyous and emotional tale of three unlikely people coming together to unite in their grief while celebrating the holidays. A future festive classic.

© Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. MRC and LuckyChap Entertainment

Saltburn – Film Review

Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan

Director: Emerald Fennell

Synopsis: An introverted Oxford University student is invited by a wealthy classmate to spend the summer at his family’s estate…

Review: There can be surely no finer way for a director to announce themselves as an exciting new voice in cinema when their debut is a powerful piece of storytelling which holds a mirror up to society and ignites a conversation. This is precisely what Emerald Fennell accomplished when her incredible directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, was unleashed onto the world in 2020/21. By putting sexual harassment and the extremely predatory behaviour of men towards women under a microscope, it earned her a well-deserved Academy Award for Original Screenplay, as well as landing nominations for Directing and Best Picture. After such richly deserved success, much anticipation followed as to what she would bring to the table with her follow-up. It is safe to say, here’s a director who is not afraid to really push boundaries.

Oliver (Keoghan) is a bright but socially introverted student who arrives at Oxford University in the mid-2000s. He initially struggles to settle in and make friends, but an act of kindness towards his wealthy aristocrat and extremely popular classmate Felix Catton (Elordi), helps Oliver to integrate himself into Felix’s circle of friends, much to the dismay of Farleigh (Madekwe), Felix’s cousin. Over the next few months, the two of them begin to form a close friendship which culminates in Felix inviting Oliver to spend the summer at his family’s extravagant estate, Saltburn, for a summer filled with extravagant parties, romance and a summer unlike anything Oliver has experienced before.

Over the years, and particularly since the Covid pandemic, films which put the class system under a microscope have been in plentify supply. Yet, while all of these films had a common thread of “eating the rich”, each delivered this message in an original and witty manner. They were full of sharp observations and satire towards the lifestyles of the rich and powerful. Fennell’s screenplay follows a similar theme with the opulence and the extravagance of those lifestyles on full display. Yet, as far as Oliver is concerned, it is not a case of casting a scowl and an angry stare at the affluence of his hosts. Instead, it is in fact a desire (bordering on lust) to integrate himself into that lifestyle, where would be willing to do anything he can obtain it.

After slowly but steadily building his name as an actor to watch in recent years, which culminated in landing his first Oscar nomination in last year’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Barry Keoghan delivers yet another memorable performance to add to an already impressive career. He starts off as a very timid student who seems petrified to come out of his shell. Yet as the film slowly progresses, he morphs and transforms into a very different character once he has a taste of the lifestyle enjoyed by Felix and his family. Speaking of the family, everyone is brilliant to watch, but the standouts are easily Felix’s parents Elsbeth (Pike) and Sir James (Grant). Both of them revel in their status as part of the elite while being snobby and condescending towards those they see as beneath them, and will fire off snide remarks at will towards people such as Oliver and Pamela, a far too brief but wonderful turn from Mulligan to reunite with her Promising Young Woman director.

With no shortage of striking and haunting religious imagery in her debut film, while effortlessly flipping between rom-com and revenge thriller, Fennell repeats this trick once again and demonstrates what a fearless filmmaker she is. This time around, she blends romantic drama, black comedy and psychological thriller into one big melting pot baked in the British summer sunshine. Furthermore, through the immaculate cinematography from Linus Sandgren the beauty of the titular estate while drenched in the warm summer sunshine is juxtaposed with an atmospheric and ominous presence, particularly at nighttime capturing a gothic horror vibe to the place. The clever use of the 4:3 ratio creates the illusion that despite its vast grounds, the Saltburn estate has much less privacy than one might expect.

The film is undeniably visually stunning, and Fennell deserves credit for once again being so daring in her storytelling. However, without getting into spoilers, the direction the story goes in is extremely provocative and twisted. It goes for shock value for the sake of it, rather than having anything of real substance to say the affluence of the 1% and fails to replicate her debut feature’s emotional gut punch that left audiences reeling. That being said, like its predecessor, it does close out on one hell of a needle drop which will likely leave said song stuck in your head for days on end.