Meet God at the Movies will discuss the 2023 holiday comedy, The Holdovers, when it meets at 6:30pm on Monday, December 16, via Zoom.

“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)—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.” (As per the internet.)

Saint Philip’s movie discussion group gathers every month via Zoom to explore a film and plumb it for theological content in the areas of creation (what is the world of the story like); what is broken/where is sin; is there a moment of turnaround, repentance; and where is redemption or the reign of God visible.

All are welcome to join the discussions—only once, sporadically, or on a regular basis—but registration is required. You can do that by emailing Paula Datsko at pauladatsko@gmail.com.

The Holdovers can be watched on Amazon Prime.