The Holdovers, which has been available for rent on Prime Video for a few months, is finally getting a full-fledged OTT release in India. JioCinema will release the Oscar-nominated film on June 16, 2024. The Holdovers is a Christmas comedy-drama that Alexander Payne wrote and directed in 2023. Paul Giamatti portrays a New England boarding school classics instructor in this late 1970s/early 1971s film, tasked with accompanying a small group of students who lack a plan for the Christmas break. Dominic Sessa plays a resident student, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph plays the school food manager.

The Holdovers plot summary and main characters

Giamatti plays the role of a grumpy teacher at a prep school in New England who has little choice but to remain on campus over Christmas break in the critically acclaimed film The Holdovers. Sessa, a newcomer, portrays a wounded but bright troublemaker, and Randolph, the school's head cook, who recently lost a son in Vietnam, are two of the unexpected friends he makes.

With nearly $44 million in box office receipts, it was well-received. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute selected it as one of the best ten films of 2023, and it also won two Golden Globes and the Best Supporting Actress prize at the British Academy Film Awards.

In addition to Giamatti's Best Picture and Best Actor nods, Randolph took home the trophy for Best Supporting Actress at the 96th Academy Awards for The Holdovers. 

Plagiarism allegations

However, Simon Stephenson, the film's screenwriter, allegedly accused the writers of plagiarising his unproduced script, Frisco, according to a March 2024 Variety article on his complaint with the Writers Guild of America. In the 2010s, Payne received Stephenson's script on two separate occasions. Stephenson later claimed that Hemingson's final script was forensically identical to his own, citing similarities in the film's meaningful entirety as evidence. Tom McNulty, producing for Frisco, cast doubt on Stephenson's assertions.

Read Also: 5 reasons kurangu pedal needs to be on your weekend ott watchlist