Paul Giamatti is perhaps one of the greatest screen actors working today, but he is certainly not one of the best known. He is not ‘leading man’ material, but he is a master at depicting complex and flawed characters with depth and vulnerability. Perhaps best known for his prickly wine buff in Sideways, Giamatti recently joined up again with the same director, Alexander Payne, to create one of 2023’s best films - The Holdovers.

Largely set in an elite private school in New England in the early 1970, the term ‘holdovers’ refers to the ‘left behind’ pupils who have to stay at the school over the Christmas break. They are a motley group, and Paul Giamatti’s somewhat misanthropic teacher is the person who has to mind them. Also at the school is the head cook - who is dealing with her own loss and sorrow, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won an Oscar for her portrayal. The other lead is a sardonic pupil played by Dominic Sessa - also excellent. The Holdovers is a brilliant film about flawed people and their relationships, and about the ties we have and the ones we make.

In her four star review in the Observer, Wendy Ide wrote: “A Christmas movie, complete with an atmospheric dusting of snow and a selection of fussy a cappella school-choir carols, it’s about finding family where you least expect it. But don’t approach The Holdovers expecting a cosy comfort blanket of a film. There’s a bracingly astringent bleakness under its surface layer of melancholy humour; a biting, sharp edge that counters the occasional lurch towards sentimentality.”

Film length: 2 hours 13 minutes (plus interval)