How Da’Vine Joy Randolph Found ‘Many Dimensions of Grief’ in ‘The Holdovers’

Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” opens on a 1969 New England boarding school crammed with students and staff as the holiday break approaches, but before long the central characters have been narrowed down to a trio: Paul Hunham, a snobbish sad-sack classics professor played by Paul Giamatti; Angus Tully, a rebellious and troubled student played by Dominic Sessa; and Mary Lamb, the school cook, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

A holiday that finds them left behind at the school turns into a road trip to Boston, and over the course of the film the antagonistic relationship between Paul and Angus takes a few twists and turns.