In today’s day and age, where the space between everyday people and celebrities of virtually any caliber seems to be closing in, the discernment of treating those with well-known reputations as people with impact rather than spectacles seems to be a thing of the past. The Christophers challenges that notion from the sides of both parties with an empathetic lens, and an encouragement to think of others outside of yourself. 

Director Steven Soderbergh follows his 2025 spy thriller Black Bag with the crime comedy The Christophers, which spends less time within a comedic barrel of laughs, and more within a catalytic drama as we are dropped at the point of stoic forger Lori Butler (Michaela Coel) and skeptic artist Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) meeting and formally changing each other’s lives. 

While the plot line puts emphasis on Julian Sklar’s children, Barnaby and Sallie (James Corden and Jessica Gunning), they are merely the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Lori and Julian, with forgettable performances at that. The emotional force behind the film is conducted by Coel’s ability to take command of the steady camera direction in the streets of London as Lori Butler, but nearly losing herself within the character inside the home (read: world) of one Julian Sklar, where we shift to an unsteady camera that evokes the feeling of unsureness and insecurity — feelings that Sklar have long imposed on Butler. 

Ian McKellen is magical as Julian Sklar, a part that would force many artists to confront their own personal fears in order to embrace the role the way McKellen effortlessly does. The idea of fading into obscurity, keeping afloat by providing Cameos for an aspiring artist’s birthday or a grandmother who needs a pick-me-up, and the public’s obsession with an unreleased series of art. There is an inherent sadness to the character — a sadness amplified by McKellen’s facial acting and the pain of a misunderstood life in his eyes.

As we listen in on Lori and Julian peeling back the layers of their hardened exteriors, we understand what painstaking moments have created the distance they both have from others. We explore what leads them to keep others at arm’s length, especially when it comes to their art. 

Sklar delivers a thought-provoking statement that could resonate with any artist navigating the capitalistic underbelly of the art world, as Butler finds herself being bogged down by, or simply a person who is coming to the close of their circle of life — “A life to be summed up… itemized.” Our protagonists both beg the question: How do we navigate the deeply troubling waters of pouring our personhood into creative expression and leaving it to public consumption and critique?

The film is not reinventing the wheel in showcasing intergenerational connection, but there is something extremely special about what we get to witness and re-learn: that art is still part of the artist, and we, as consumers, are merely lucky to experience it, and we are owed nothing more. Soderbergh’s sentimentality in the film excites me about what else he could have in his back pocket, as this is an unexplored route calling his name. 

The Christophers hits theaters nationwide on April 10. 

Review Courtesy of Des Mack

Feature Image Credit to NEON