THE CHRISTOPHERS

The Christophers is a sharp, darkly funny and quietly moving character drama from Steven Soderbergh, built around a wonderfully layered performance from Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar, a once‑celebrated artist facing the end of his life. When his estranged children hatch a scheme to forge and sell his long‑abandoned portraits, they recruit Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), a talented restorer with her own complicated history with Sklar. What follows is a twisting, intimate dance between truth, art, resentment and the strange loyalties that survive inside fractured families.

Soderbergh keeps the film taut, stylish and full of sly humour, letting McKellen and Coel spark off each other in scenes that are both prickly and unexpectedly tender. It’s a richly satisfying film — part moral puzzle, part character study — that rewards close attention and leaves plenty to talk about afterwards.