A cranky teacher at a prestigious US school must stay behind on campus during the Christmas holidays to oversee the handful of students who have nowhere else to go.
Christmas break 1970. Always grumpy teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) has no family or friends to celebrate the Christmas period with. So he stays behind at the prestigious American boarding school to supervise the few pupils who cannot go home. Against all odds, he forms a bond with Angus - a clever troublemaker - and Mary, the head of the school kitchen who recently lost her son in Vietnam.
At first glance, this humorous Christmas film seems straight out of the 1970s, with its fantastic seventies setting, distinctive zooms and image filters. Besides, it is a warm story about human relationships and a real Christmas classic in the making.