The Holdovers Review: Giamatti & Newcomer Dominic Sessa Are Alive With Chemistry

Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is one of his most likable films to date, and one of the most highly anticipated films of Fall 2023. Payne routinely writes his own films, but as with Nebraska, The Holdovers is not written by the auteur. Payne was approached to direct a pilot about a similar subject matter in the past and declined, but did stay in touch with The Holdovers screenwriter, David Hemingson (Traffic Light). Incorporating Payne’s own personal experience of boarding school with Hemingson’s script, The Holdovers was born, and the director brings a sense of levity to a teenager imploding.