The Christmas season doesn’t feel too bright for a handful of students at Barton, a prep school in New England, nor for the one instructor they all genuinely loathe. While most of their friends have gone home for the holidays, these students have to remain at school with Mr. Hunham, their instructor in ancient civilizations, whose idea for the holidays is to assign more study. In short order, the two-week break comes down to Mr. Hunham, the school’s grieving cook Mary Lamb, and Angus Tully, a rebellious and troubled teen who may have more in common with his nemesis than either know.
The film is set in December 1970, where the Vietnam War has claimed the son of the school’s cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), about whom Mr. Hunham (Paul Giamatti) feels protective against the insensitivity of the students. Mr. Hunham…
