Oscar®-winner Steven Soderbergh returns with The Christophers, a bitingly funny and warmly entertaining chamber comedy about artistic legacy, the things we take from each other, and the things we give in return.
Sallie and Barnaby (Jessica Gunning and James Corden), the spoiled and estranged children of the once-revered artist Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen), approach struggling artist Lori Butler (I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel) to pose as their father’s new assistant. Her task is to locate a series of Sklar’s famously abandoned paintings—“The Christophers"—and forge their completion, leaving his children something to sell when he passes away. Lori accepts the job (and a third of the future profits), but the grift is threatened when the two begin to break through each other’s respective walls and form a tentative but sincere connection.
The epitome of a personality clash, The Christophers is brought to life by the dueling presences of McKellen’s flamboyant, prickly, and utterly commanding Sklar meeting head-to-head with Coel’s reserved, cool-headed, and stunningly sharp Lori. They make for a dazzling duet, primed to wear down each other’s defenses in a story entirely full of life, passion, and undeniable wit.
2026, 100 Minutes, UK/USA, Directed by Steven Soderberg, Rated R
“I have rarely enjoyed watching two actors’ rapport the way I loved watching McKellen and Coel; it could have gone on forever and not been long enough.”
– Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times
“An electrifying Ian McKellen hits a new career peak and takes an early shot at Oscar in Steven Soderbergh’s unmissable tale of an artist and his forger, played by the brilliant Michaela Coel.”
– Peter Travers, The Travers Take
"Further proof that Soderbergh remains one of American cinema’s most inimitable, and adventurous, auteurs."
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
“A film that could have settled for being a masterclass in technique, but instead goes deeper, exploring questions of artistry, authorship, legacy.”
– Bob Mondello, NPR
