The dark comedy from acclaimed filmmaker Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendents, Nebraska) sees Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, Billions) take centre stage in what promises to be another key awards player.

Written by David Hemingson, the film follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Giamatti) at a prestigious American school who 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.

Giamatti is joined in the cast by newcomer Dominic Sessa as well as Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite Is My Name, Only Murders in The Building) and Carrie Preston (True Blood, The Good Wife).

After premiering at the BFI London Film Festival in October, The Holdovers will be released in the UK on 19 January 2024.