The Christophers

Steven Soderbergh had an idea to do a film about an established artist’s relationship with a younger painter through a story involving fraud. Screenwriter Ed Solomon (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure; Men in Black) ran with that idea, and the result is this compelling original drama built around two heavyweight performers: Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel. The latter is a forger contacted by an old art school friend who has a proposition: she is to insinuate herself into her ailing father’s studio and secretly complete his abandoned last series of canvases, the Christophers, ready for discovery when the old man finally kicks the bucket.

Adhering to the adage, “Simple story, complex characters,” the movie brings to life ideas about the creative impulse, criticism, authenticity and burn-out through the subtly oscillating connection between the cynical old artist and the (ironically) idealistic forger.

A sparkling, funny, wise movie… I have rarely enjoyed watching two actors’ rapport the way I loved watching McKellen and Coel; it could have gone on forever and not been long enough.

Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times