Movie

The Holdovers

2023 · 133 min

A bittersweet, character-driven story that unfolds slowly, blending humor and melancholy into a warm, humanistic experience.

Tagline: Discomfort and joy.
Overview: A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
How it feels: Warm, melancholic, earnest and light. Slow-burning and needs your attention.
About: Grief, found family, isolation, class
Content: Strong language. Mild violence and sexual content. No gore.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: warmstrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
lightstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: grief
found family
isolation
class
redemption
Places: school
small town
big city
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: ensemble
Content intensity: Gore none
Language strong
Violence mild
Sex mild