I have had many teachers over the 11 years of my school career. Many of them I have enjoyed, and would be happy to go back in time and take their class again. Others… not so much. In a similar fashion, every teacher has students they love and remember fondly, as well as those they would never like to see again. Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is about just that: a student and a professor who hate each other. Yet in this case, they must spend the entirety of winter break together. This conflict of two opposing forces creates a magnificent story of “surviving” the winter. A great blend of comedy and drama as well as deeper themes help to build the story, yet it is the humorous and relatable conflict which make The Holdovers a masterpiece.

At it’s surface level, The Holdovers follows a belligerent student named Angus (Dominic Sessa) and a grumpy professor named Paul (Paul Giamatti) as they put up with each other for the holidays. Neither of them wants to be together, but Paul has to stay at the school with the students who have nowhere else to go on the holidays—in this case, only Angus. At first they barely tolerate each other, with the lone lunch lady, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), being the saving grace for both of them. As time passes though, they slowly open up to each other, sharing deeper feelings and secrets from their lives. While they still don’t like each other, the experiences they share during their time together makes the winter break much more bearable.

This story of foes becoming unlikely acquaintances is aided by the comedic aspects of the film. Watching the two try to get along is already funny enough, but the crazy scenarios they get into add to the humor. Be it Paul chasing Angus around the school or any of the ridiculous field trips they take together, The Holdovers does well at making a storyline which makes viewers laugh. Still, the story is often told through a more serious manner. The characters still have fun during their time together, but there are points in the movie in which sincere conversations are held between the characters. It’s these moments when the characters become very relatable. All of the serious scenes create the lives of the characters, with the humorous scenes acting as an escape from their realities.

These serious moments also build up some of the themes and messages in the movie. Possibly the greatest theme which every character reflects is one of loneliness. It is evident that the three main characters are all alone over the holidays, hence why they are left at the school. It’s this loneliness which leaves them as the holdovers, but this solitude also brings them closer together as they try to escape it. Other characters deal with loss, depression, and regret, all of which add to the overall story. Together, these themes create a beautiful narrative of complex characters dealing with their own issues.

The Holdovers is not a happy story. It continually adds sad layers to characters, turning them more human and relatable. The actors do so well that I got emotionally attached to all of the characters, which just makes it more painful to see the characters get continually kicked around by life. Sure, it’s sad, maybe too sad at times, but these depressing parts give away to more hopeful themes for the characters. At the beginning I felt bad for Angus, Paul, and Mary being together for the holidays, but by the end I smiled at how far they’d come. The ending gives little closure to the story, which is frustrating, but it does end on a hopeful tone which resonates even after the movie is over. Perhaps that’s why the ending is so vague: so that viewers can imagine some closure which makes them happy. After all, nobody knows what happens next in life. All we can all do is stay hopeful. 

On December 15th, the new Wonka movie came to theaters. This movie is a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which shows Willy Wonka before he made the factory.  The plot is about Wonka's struggle to start a chocolate store in the big city when corrupt villains try to stop him. It is a wonderful musical starring Timothée Chalamet as Wonka and was directed by Paul King, who also directed the Paddington films. It is said that Wonka is a very entertaining movie with a 4.0 star rating out of 5 or 7.3/10. It's also very whimsical and fun to sing along to as well. All the songs are very catchy. 

The Wonka movie is a great new part of the franchise. It explains so much about Wonka. His backstory is better explained as he makes new friends in the big city. It also explains his dreams and motivations his has. He makes friends to go against the villains preventing him from opening his chocolate shop. I rate Wonka 5/5 and recommend it to all ages, even though it's a PG movie. This movie is coming to Disney Plus on July 8th. But now, you can watch it on Amazon Prime Video, and it's still in theaters.