The Christophers has Steven Soderbergh once again delivering in his “effortless filmmaking” mode. Born out of a cocktail-napkin conversation with screenwriter Ed Solomon and filmed in just nineteen days, it is another reminder of the director’s speed and efficiency. It is a stripped-down chamber piece set almost entirely in the house of Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen), a once-celebrated artist whose estranged children (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) plot to secure their inheritance by hiring Lori (Michaela Coel), an art restorer with a forger’s past, to finish their father’s abandoned canvases. The director uses such a premise to create a sparring match of personalities, and in its best moments, delivers the pleasures and addictive pull of a good Succession episode.
Even more so than in his previous work Black Bag, which had a few stylish flourishes even if unobtrusive, here Soderbergh keeps his direction almost invisible, relying on still framing and the precision of his cast instead of stylistic touches. The edges can feel rough, the rush of production shows in places, with a few scenes visually unfocused, yet in this case, it adds to the immediacy, like watching a play where the actors’ energy carries the weight.
Thankfully, carrying such weight is none other than Ian McKellen, for whom the role was written. Kind of like the cinema equivalent of a two-person play, the film gives us the chance to watch the subtlest changes in his expressions, every small pause or change in glance telling its own story. McKellen, of course, makes a meal of every line, savoring his role with wit and venom. Michaela Coel plays against him with measured intelligence, holding her ground in silence as much as in dialogue. As Julian goes on and on in monologues, we see Lori watching, fabricating what she might do next. James Corden and Jessica Gunning feel oddly placed, which does fit their roles, but it also comes across as Soderbergh relying too much on the casting itself to do the job.
One could try looking for deeper readings in the material, like whether Julian’s fear of irrelevance is personal to the director who might recognize those anxieties after so many pivots, retirements, and comebacks. Or whether the theme of forgery links back to his earlier interests, from The Informant! to No Sudden Move to even the playful scams of Ocean’s Eleven. But such readings can feel like giving more meaning than Soderbergh himself probably intended, since it’s more likely to have played as a challenge, almost as if someone dared him. The film remains confident, reliable, and modest in its scope, the kind of project that suggests a filmmaker with time to kill, who knows how to make a film, and who casts an actor who knows how to hold our attention. That proves enough. It may not be as desirable as one of the Christophers, but it also never comes across as a careless imitation done for a quick buck.
This is part of Reviews On Reels TIFF 2025 Coverage. Due to the hectic rhythm of a film festival, it may be tweaked in the future.
Still courtesy of TIFF.