A Streaming Guide to The Holdovers

One of the best films I saw at 2023’s Toronto International Film Festival, Alexander Payne’s blissfully nostalgic The Holdovers, is a time capsule done right. It’s a film that feels steeped in both its genre and its era, yet with a story that rings true to a modern audience. Created using the film techniques of the 1970s, The Holdovers is itself set in the winter of 1970 at a New England boarding school for boys. There, curmudgeonly classics professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is stuck babysitting the holiday “holdovers,” the students left to stay on school property while their classmates skip town for chalet vacations and egg nog.

One of these students, the brilliant-but-delinquent Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), is an unexpected holdover, and his enemies-to-friends relationship with Hunham is one of the film’s warmest delights. But perhaps The Holdovers’ biggest standout is supporting actress Da’vine Joy Randolph, who plays the school’s head cook, a grieving mother whose son recently died in the Vietnam War. Together, Paul, Angus, and Mary make a remarkable if unanticipated trio, full of humor and heart.

Now nominated for five Academy Awards, here’s how to see The Holdovers ahead of March’s Oscars ceremony.

Where can I watch The Holdovers?

If you’d prefer to hold onto a digital copy of the film, you can purchase a version on Apple TV, YouTube Movies, or Amazon Prime. Otherwise, you’ll want a Peacock subscription to get streaming.

Is The Holdovers streaming?

Yes. The Holdovers started streaming on Peacock just in time for Christmas 2023, but you can still watch it ahead of the 2024 Oscars ceremony. Subscriptions start at $5.99 per month.

Watch The Holdovers on Peacock

Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.