The Holdovers is a 2023 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne and written by David Hemingson. Set in the winter of 1970 and carrying over into early 1971, the film stars Paul Giamatti as a strict classics teacher at a New England boarding school who is forced to chaperone a handful of students with nowhere to go on Christmas break. Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa play the school cafeteria manager and one of the students who stays on campus, respectively.
May December is a 2023 American drama film directed by Todd Haynes from a screenplay by Samy Burch, based on a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik. Loosely inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal, it stars Natalie Portman as an actress who travels to meet and study the life of the controversial woman she is set to play in a film—a woman infamous for the 23-year-long relationship with her husband which began when he was 13 years old.
American Fiction is a 2023 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cord Jefferson, in his feature directorial debut. Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, it follows a frustrated novelist-professor who writes an outlandish satire of stereotypical "black" books, only for it to be mistaken by the liberal elite for serious literature and published to both high sales and critical praise. It stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, and Keith David.
Past Lives is a 2023 American romantic drama film written and directed by Celine Song in her feature directorial debut. Starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro, it follows two childhood friends over the course of 24 years while they contemplate the nature of their relationship as they grow apart, living different lives. The plot is semi-autobiographical and inspired by real events from Song's life.
Anatomy of a Fall is a 2023 French legal drama film, directed by Justine Triet from a screenplay she co-wrote with Arthur Harari. It stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband's death.
Dominic Sessa is an American actor. He made his film debut in Alexander Payne's coming-of-age film The Holdovers (2023), portraying troubled teenager Angus Tully. His performance won him the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer in addition to a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
The 89th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2023, were announced on November 30, 2023.
The 95th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2023, were announced on December 6, 2023. Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon won Best Film and received the most wins with four, including Best Director and Best Actress.
The 44th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2023, were given on December 10, 2023.
The 49th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), honoured the best in film for 2023. The awards were announced on December 10, 2023. The Zone of Interest received the most awards with four wins, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Lead Performance. The winners were honored at the association's annual banquet, which was dedicated to "beloved friends of film Bérénice Reynaud and Doug Jones", in the Los Angeles Millennium Hotels & Resorts on January 13, 2024.
David Hemingson is an American writer and producer for film and television. He is best known for writing the 2023 film The Holdovers, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
