The Christophers

AroView: In one of his finest, funniest performances, Sir Ian McKellen plays a willfully washed-up artist who was once the toast of the London but is now an eccentric old cynic.

He meets his match in an art student and critic (Michaela Coel) who is hired by his estranged children to persuade him to complete (or otherwise forge) a potentially lucrative set of paintings that he has famously abandoned. Directed by Steven Soderbergh from a juicy original screenplay by Ed Soloman, it’s a literate ‘drawing room’ two-hander that delights in discourse about value and validation in the art world.

“McKellen’s work here is his best since his Gandalf days, reinterpreting the elder artist into a mad king, fuelled and decimated by his own ego.” ~Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

“McKellen has been given a wonderful late-career gift in Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers, a role that allows him to deliver one of his best performances in years.” ~Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist

“The Christophers is a talky, at times incredibly funny, comedy drama with plot reversals that make it feel like it’s on the verge of a thriller.” ~Benjamin Lee, The Guardian