The Holdovers

Nobody likes teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) — 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 (Randolph)-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.

Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham, a classics teacher at the Barton Academy boarding school, Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully, a Barton student left on campus during Christmas break, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb, Barton head cook and bereaved mother, Carrie Preston as Miss Lydia Crane, a Barton staff member, Brady Hepner as Teddy Kountze, Angus’s enemy; one of five holdovers, Ian Dolley as Alex Ollerman, the son of Mormon missionaries; one of five holdovers, Jim Kaplan as Ye-Joon Park, an international student from Korea; one of five holdovers, Michael Provost as Jason Smith, the Barton football team’s quarterback; one of five holdovers, Andrew Garman as Dr. Hardy Woodrip, the headmaster of Barton Academy, Naheem Garcia as Danny, a Barton janitor, Stephen Thorne as Thomas Tully, Angus’ institutionalized father, Gillian Vigman as Judy Clotfelter, Angus’ mother, Tate Donovan as Stanley Clotfelter, Angus’ stepfather, Darby Lily Lee-Stack as Elise, Angus’s romantic interest