Director: Alexander Payne
Writer(s): David Hemingson
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan, Darby Lee-Stack, Bill Mootos, Dustin Tucker, Juanita Pearl, Alexander Cook, Liz Bishop, Cole Tristan Murphy, Will Sussbauer, Carter Shimp, Michael Malvesti, Dakota Lustick, Melissa McMeekin, Jonathan von Mering, Rena Maliszewski, Osmani Rodriguez, Oscar Wahlberg, Dan Aid, Mike Kaz, Kelly AuCoin, Colleen Clinton, Fred Robbins, David J. Curtis, Pamela Jayne Morgan, Davis Robinson, Joe Howell, Peter Krasinski, Greg Chopoorian, Ian Lyons, Kevin Fennessy, Tom Bletsis, Peter Brownlee, Nicole Cerullo, Timothy Connelly, Joe Curtin, Kevin Daigneault, Jon DiVito, Matt DiVito, Michele Egerton, Carlyne Fournier, Jasmin Gomes, Bhanu Gopal, Jane Howes, Ian Dylan Hunt, Kazina Maxine, Cameron Mysliwicz, Reb Powers, Anne Reardon, James Solopoulos, Paul S. Warner
Synopsis: Nobody likes teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) — not his students, not his fellow faculty, not the headmaster, who all find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With no family and nowhere to go over Christmas holiday in 1970, Paul remains at school to supervise students unable to journey home. After a few days, only one student holdover remains — a trouble-making 15-year-old named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary (Randolph)-an African American woman who caters to sons of privilege and whose own son was recently lost in Vietnam. These three very different shipwrecked people form an unlikely Christmas family sharing comic misadventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey is how they help one another understand that they are not beholden to their past-they can choose their own futures. READ REVIEW
Release Date: November 10, 2023 (USA) | Length: 133 min | Genre: Comedy, Drama | MPAA Rating: Rated R for language, some drug use and brief sexual material. | Note(s): Premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023.