The Holdovers' Streaming Popularity Is A Reminder To Watch Robin Williams' $236 Million Classic Movie From 35 Years Ago

Summary The Holdovers, a popular streaming hit, draws parallels to Dead Poets Society in its setting and themes.

Directed by Alexander Payne, the film features an original story and characters penned by David Hemingson.

The Holdovers garnered critical acclaim, earning an Oscar for Da'Vine Joy Randolph and nominations in various categories.

The Holdovers is getting popular on streaming, and it can serve as a reminder to check out a classic Robin Williams movie from a couple of decades ago. Hitting theaters in 2023, The Holdovers charmed audiences with its story of curmudgeonly professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and his relationship with his student Angus (Dominic Sessa) as the young man ends up having to stay at their New England boarding school over winter break. The film is now available to stream on Prime Video, and has become relatively successful since its streaming release.

Directed by Alexander Payne, The Holdovers tells an original story with original characters. Its script is penned by David Hemingson, whose previous work includes writing for TV series such as Uncle Buck, Black-ish, Traffic Light, and The Deep End. Despite the fact that The Holdovers is not adapted from another source, the film bears a number of similarities to a movie that came years before it.

Related The Holdovers Cast & Character Guide The Holdovers is one of the most popular films of 2023, and here is a full cast and character breakdown for the new Paul Giamatti Christmas movie.

The Holdovers Is Similar To Robin Williams' 1989 Movie Dead Poets Society

The Holdovers & Dead Poets Society Have Similar Settings & Themes

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In more ways than one, The Holdovers bears similarity to the 1989 Robin Williams film Dead Poets Society. Like The Holdovers, Dead Poets Society takes place at an all-boys boarding school in New England. The Vermont setting of the fictional Welton Academy bears similarity to the halls of Barton Academy, which Paul and Angus traverse on their snowy winter break.

Click here to watch The Holdovers

In addition to their settings, the main character relationships are fundamentally similar in the two films. In Dead Poets Society, a group of adolescent boys finds themselves extraordinarily moved by the teachings of their English teacher, John Keating, mirroring the relationship between Angus and Hunham in The Holdovers. Even the arcs of the two films are similar, with the endings of The Holdovers and Dead Poets Society both seeing the main teachers ending up as martyrs when they are fired from their boarding school positions. In both cases, the cause of their firing is directly related with the main reason why the men helped their young students.

How Holdovers' Oscars & Critical Success Compare To Dead Poets Society

Both Films Were Nominated For Academy Awards

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Both The Holdovers and Dead Poets Society were positively received at the time of their release. The Holdovers received great reviews and an almost-perfect 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and an also-favorable 92% audience approval rating. The film also earned an Oscar for first-time nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph, for her work playing supporting character Mary Lamb. While Randolph’s Oscar was the only Academy Award win, The Holdovers also wound up nominated for four other Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Actor for Giamatti.

Dead Poets Society has a slightly lower Rotten Tomatoes rating, with an 84% Tomatometer. Its audience approval rating is identical at 92%. Dead Poets Society was nominated for one fewer Oscar than The Holdovers, getting a nod for four awards rather than five. Dead Poets Society ended up winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Its other nominations included Best Picture, Best Director for Peter Weir, and Best Actor for Williams.

The real comparison point between The Holdovers and Dead Poets Society will come with time. Though it was released 35 years ago, Dead Poets Society has truly stood the test of time, as it is still a revered film today. Its final scene is arguably one of the most moving moments in cinema, earning what could otherwise be a saccharine ending. If The Holdovers is still talked about a couple of decades from now, only then will it be able to be truly compared with the marvelous Dead Poets Society.