Even by Steven Soderbergh’s prolific filmmaking standards, 2025 was a very busy year. Before the year was through, the man had released two movies — spy thriller Black Bag and haunted house chiller Presence — and shot a third. That third film, The Christophers, is a London-set crime comedy in which Sir Ian McKellen plays Julian Sklar, a once renowned artist with a messy family life who unwittingly becomes the target of art restorer/forger Lori (Michaela Coel). If it sounds like smart, snappy, Soderbergh-y stuff, then we’re happy to report that it looks like it too. Check out the trailer below;
Well this looks like a bit bloody good, doesn’t it? At a moment where the future — and meaning — of art is being fiercely debated and contested, along comes Soderbergh to spin a multi-faceted yarn about artistic provenance and art’s essential nature (and, well, estranged kids looking for an inheritance sweetener from their crotchety old man.) Written by Soderbergh regular collaborator and Men In Black scribe Ed Solomon, The Christophers co-stars James Corden and Baby Reindeer‘s Jessica Gunning, and its official synopsis reads: “Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) was once a star of London’s 1960’s and 70’s pop art explosion, but he hasn’t painted in decades and has been broke for years. His two estranged children (James Corden, Jessica Gunning), desperate for an inheritance, hire Lori, an art restorer and former forger (Michaela Coel), to pose as a prospective assistant in order to access 8 unfinished canvases Julian has buried deep in storage. Her plan is to complete them, then return them to storage, where they are to be “discovered” upon Julian’s death.”
Having proven a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, there’s a lot of buzz building around Soderbergh’s latest already. We’ll find out if The Christophers is the real deal or not when it hits UK cinemas on 15 May.
