How to watch The Holdovers online — stream the Oscar-nominated Paul Giamatti movie online

Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham and Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully in The Holdovers
(Image credit: Focus Features)

The Holdovers stars Paul Giamatti as cantankerous classics professor Paul Hunham and Dominic Sessa as his student nemesis Angus Tully. Nominated for no fewer than five Oscars, it's streaming now on Peacock in the U.S.. If you're traveling abroad, we'll explain how to watch The Holdovers online and from anywhere with a VPN.

The Holdovers streaming details

The Holdovers became available for streaming in the U.S. on Friday, December 29, 2023.
 U.S. — Peacock
• Watch anywhere — try ExpressVPN risk-free

Every year, one unfortunate teacher is put on babysitting duty for Barton Academy's handful of holdovers, the students who have nowhere to go over the festive period. Hunham would rather have his liver pecked out by an eagle than spend any more time than he's contracted to with a rabble of students who clearly despise him, and after a particularly egregious dressing down, Angus snaps.

In his lessons, Hunham doggedly preaches that "history is an explanation of the present", yet it requires an intervention from Barton's head cook Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), one of his few steadfast allies, for him to really twig the implication.

A touching, character-driven picture with a pleasing 70s aesthetic and shades of Good Will Hunting, it holds a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has picked up five Oscar nominations, including a nod in the Best Picture category, and earned Giamatti and Randolph a Golden Globe apiece.

Here's where to watch The Holdovers – one of several 2024 Oscar contenders streaming now – from anywhere. We've also embedded the superb trailer further down the page.

How to watch The Holdovers in U.S.

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NBC's streaming service Peacock is the exclusive place to watch The Holdovers in the U.S.

The Oscar-nominated movie landed on the platform on Friday, December 29, two months after being released in U.S. theaters.

Peacock subscriptions start from only $5.99/month, rising to $11.99/month to go ad-free. Or you can get 12 months for the price of 10 on either tier by signing up for an annual plan.

Peacock

In addition to showing The Holdovers in the U.S., Peacock also has the rights to live NFL, WWE, EPL and a huge library of binge-worthy content. Some of the best Peacock shows include classics like The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock and This Is Us, as well as newer shows such as The Traitors.

Watch The Holdovers from anywhere

How to watch The Holdovers from anywhere in the world

What if you're usually based in the U.S. but are overseas right now? Perhaps, you're on holiday and don't want to spend money on theater tickets in a foreign country when you'd usually be able to watch The Holdovers with a platform you already pay for at home.

Don't worry — you can watch it via a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below. Our favorite VPN service right now is ExpressVPN, but you'll find others in our best VPN services list.

ExpressVPN

Speed, security and simplicity combine to make ExpressVPN our favorite VPN service. In our testing, we were impressed by its fast connection times and by its ability to access more than 3,000 services in 160 locations across 100+ countries. A 30-day money-back guarantee is another bonus.

Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're away from the U.S. and want to view Peacock, you'd select a U.S.-based server from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to your normal streaming service and watch The Holdovers streams as if you were back home.

The Holdovers streams by country

Can you watch The Holdovers in Canada?

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The thatrical release for The Holdovers took place on Friday, November 10 in Canada, but at the time of writing it isn't clear when it will be available for streaming in the great white north. 

For now, anybody currently north of the border from the U.S. can use one of the best VPN services to access their usual streaming service. We recommend ExpressVPN thanks to its speed, reliability and trusted security features.

Can you watch The Holdovers in the U.K.?

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The Holdovers was only release in U.K. cinemas on Friday, January 19, so it's unlikely to be available for streaming anytime soon.

For now, anybody currently abroad from the U.S. can use one of the best VPN services to access their usual streaming service. We recommend ExpressVPN

Can you watch The Holdovers in Australia?

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It's a similar situation in Australia, where The Holdovers started arriving in cinemas on Thursday, January 11.

For now, anybody currently abroad from the U.S. can use one of the best VPN services to access their usual streaming service. We recommend ExpressVPN

The Holdovers trailer

The Holdovers cast

  • Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham
  • Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully
  • Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb
  • Carrie Preston as Miss Lydia Crane
  • Brady Hepner as Teddy Kountze
  • Ian Dolley as Alex Ollerman
  • Jim Kaplan as Ye-Joon Park
  • Michael Provost as Jason Smith
  • Andrew Garman as Dr Hardy Woodrup

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Aatif Sulleyman

Aatif is a freelance journalist and copywriter based in the UK. He’s written about technology, sport and politics for a wide range of publications including TechRadar, What Hi-Fi?, The Independent, Trusted Reviews, and Newsweek. These days, he focuses mainly on streaming at Future, an arrangement that combines two of his greatest passions: live TV and penny-pinching. When he's not attending a top-flight English soccer match, you can find him perfecting his table tennis skills.