Making things worse, the stranded students appointed ‘babysitter’ is the cantankerous Professor Hunham (Paul Giamatti). But as the days pass, the grumpy professor forms an unexpected bond with smart-but-troubled student Angus (Dominic Sessa), and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in this role), the school’s cook, who is grieving the loss of her son.

Alexander Payne reunites with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti in a film that strikes the perfect balance between pathos and playfulness. The Holdovers is just the kind of warm-hearted and thoughtful work we have come to expect from one of contemporary cinema’s great humanist filmmakers.