Sightlines · reception
How The Holdovers was received
2023 · Alexander Payne · The Holdovers on Sightlines
The arc
Landed at Telluride 2023 as Alexander Payne's comeback after Downsizing, rode warm reviews to five Oscar nominations — and then did something rarer: within a single year it settled into the annual Christmas-rewatch canon, an 'instant classic' arc most films need decades to earn.
What’s debated
The recurring fight is whether it's a genuinely great film or immaculately executed 70s cosplay — nostalgia-bait with vintage logos — plus a smaller flare-up over screenwriter Simon Stephenson's plagiarism accusation against David Hemingson in early 2024.
Its footprint
It's become shorthand for the modern comfort-watch Christmas movie, boosted by Paul Giamatti's ornate period insults and the viral image of Giamatti eating at In-N-Out in a tux right after his Golden Globes win — Sideways fans savored the Payne–Giamatti reunion nineteen years on.
Where it stands
A Letterboxd darling and fast-tracked Christmas-canon entry — the rare 2020s film people already talk about as a December tradition.
Did you know? Dominic Sessa had never acted on screen before: he was a student at Deerfield Academy, one of the prep schools used as a filming location, and was cast out of its theater program.
Named by the director
- Merlusse (1935) — Payne said seeing Marcel Pagnol's film about a teacher stuck at school with boys over the holidays gave him the premise, which he then pitched to David Hemingson.
- Hal Ashby — Payne cited Ashby and the character-driven American cinema of the early 1970s as the register he wanted the film to live in — down to making it look like it was actually made in 1970.