COMING SOON
The Christophers
In the London art world’s twilight, a once-famed painter and the young forger hired to finish his abandoned “Christophers” canvases enter a sly game of deception, inheritance and ego that slowly becomes an unexpectedly tender study of legacy, regret and second chances.
Director
Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)
CAST
Ian McKellen • Michaela Coel • James Corden • Jessica Gunning
RATING
VA
Offensive language
RUNTIME
1h 40m
COUNTRY
United Kingdom/United States
GENRE
Comedy, Drama, Black comedy
LANGUAGE
English
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The Christophers
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Sales are subject to our cancellation policy. No phone bookings
ncp - no complimentary passes
cap - captioned for hard of hearing
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FILM NOTES
A sharp, talky art-world caper that gradually reveals a richly human portrait of two misfit artists discovering how much they need one another.
Set largely inside a cluttered London townhouse and studio, The Christophers follows Julian Sklar, a once-celebrated pop-art painter living off Cameo videos while his eight unfinished “Christopher” portraits gather dust upstairs. His estranged adult children secretly hire Lori Butler, a former forger now scraping by as a restorer, to pose as his assistant, locate the paintings and complete them so they can be “discovered” and sold after his death. As Julian and Lori circle each other in barbed conversation, the scam gives way to a layered relationship about criticism, queer history and the strange afterlives of art, with London’s streets and galleries framing their uneasy dance.
For audiences, this is a dialogue-rich, darkly funny character piece rather than a conventional heist thriller, powered by McKellen’s mercurial, razor-sharp turn and Coel’s quietly combustible presence. Soderbergh keeps the scale intimate and the pacing nimble, weaving in wit, tension and melancholy as forged canvases, shredded fakes and glitter-flecked “unsaleable” paintings test everyone’s motives. It’s ideal for viewers who enjoy smart, actor-driven cinema, are curious about the ethics of restoration and forgery, or simply want to spend time with two formidable performers sparring over what, and who, makes art truly valuable.