The Holdovers - Individual Lessons
Explore 12 ready-to-teach lessons for Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, designed for VCE English and EAL.
Each individual lesson includes an editable PowerPoint slideshow, student worksheet and sample answers. Individual Teacher and English/EAL Faculty — One Campus licence options are available.
Select a lesson below to view its focus, included materials and purchasing options.
Lesson 01: What Is This Film Really About?
Students explore the film’s central concerns by examining how Paul Hunham, Angus Tully and Mary Lamb are emotionally “stuck”. They consider how each character’s struggles are shaped by the film’s social and historical context and develop initial whole-film arguments that move beyond plot summary.
Lesson 02: How Characters Shape Meaning
Students explore how characters represent broader ideas rather than simply possessing particular personality traits. They connect character behaviour with context and experience, compare different responses to hardship, and develop argument-style statements about what the characters reveal.
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Lesson 03: Connection and Isolation
Students examine physical and emotional isolation and distinguish between false, temporary and genuine connection. They analyse key moments, quotations and film techniques before developing evidence-based arguments about whether the connections formed in the film are genuine or limited.
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Lesson 04: How Does Grief Shape Relationships?
Students explore the different forms that grief and loss take throughout the film and consider how these experiences affect behaviour and relationships. They examine the development of found family and construct arguments about whether shared hardship isolates people or creates connection.
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Lesson 05: Is Authority Protective or Damaging?
Students examine institutional, parental and moral authority, as well as the different reasons characters resist control. They analyse key evidence and develop arguments about when authority provides protection and when it becomes damaging.
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Lesson 06: How Do Characters Find Meaning and Hope?
Students explore how the characters find purpose, hope and emotional meaning despite grief, loneliness and disappointment. They analyse significant quotations and ordinary acts of care before evaluating whether the film’s worldview and ending are hopeful, pessimistic or bittersweet.
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Lesson 07: How Does the Film Create Emotional Meaning?
Students develop their understanding of how music, sound, camera framing, lighting, setting, symbolism and performance create emotional meaning. They analyse how Payne’s restrained film style shapes audience responses and reveals emotions that the characters struggle to express directly.
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Lesson 08: How Do Societal Expectations Shape the Characters?
Students examine how Barton, privilege, social class, race, gender expectations and the Vietnam War shape the characters’ experiences. They consider who benefits from social institutions, who is harmed by them, and how the film develops its critique of inequality and power.
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Lesson 09: How Does the Film Develop Complex Ideas About Human Life?
Students move beyond simple thematic statements to develop nuanced interpretations of the film. They consider evidence that both supports and complicates ideas before constructing sophisticated arguments about human behaviour, relationships and society.
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Lesson 10: What Makes Analytical Writing Sophisticated?
Students develop the foundations of sophisticated analytical writing by distinguishing interpretation from description and plot retelling. They correct common writing problems, strengthen contentions, and develop supporting arguments using precise and relevant evidence.
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Lesson 11: How to Brainstorm an Analytical Response
Students work through the complete process of planning an analytical response. They unpack an essay topic, test its assumptions using a “Yes, No and Partly” approach, select relevant evidence, develop three supporting arguments and create a nuanced contention.
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Lesson 12: How to Write an Analytical Response
Students transform an existing essay plan into structured analytical writing. They draft and improve an introduction, examine the TEEAEAL body-paragraph structure, write a complete analytical paragraph and identify the essential elements of an effective conclusion.
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