Rating: R | Runtime: 100 minutes
Release Date: April 10th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Neon
Director(s): Steven Soderbergh
Writer(s): Ed Solomon

… to last in the minds of others.

Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers is eighty minutes of a woman stoically staring as a man loquaciously and often inanely vomits dialogue to no end before finally becoming self-conscious enough to realize he’s actually being forced to confront just how hollow, scared, and inconsequential he has become. And it’s a ton of fun as Ed Solomon writes Ian McKellen a steady stream of one-liners within it that are made funnier by Michaela Coel’s deadpan expressions.

The other twenty are some of the most unforgettable and legitimately heartfelt moments of human connection you’ll see all year. Moments devoid of the artifice of celebrity that McKellen’s renowned painter Julian Sklar lost himself to two decades ago. Moments of authentic understanding portrayed via the silence shared when he stems his tide of drivel long enough for Coel’s Lori Butler to tilt her head into the universal “Are you done now?” position.

There’s also a lot to be said about artistic intent, speculative value versus intrinsic value, and the difference between actual critique causing an artist to get angry because they know it’s true and performative critique seeking to belittle an artist—regardless of the quality of their work—as a means towards giving themselves value through the excoriation. There’s even more to be said about the pain, suffering, and love inherent to the act of creation.

It’s why Jessica Gunning and James Corden are so good as the no-talent leeches attempting to profit off their father instead of even trying to discover why he never finished the paintings they hire Lori to forge (not that he gave them reason to care). And why the potential buyer is no better than them by attributing value to the idea of the art rather than the art itself. Because it’s not about ownership. It’s about the experience of doing, seeing, and knowing.

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Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in THE CHRISTOPHERS. Photo by Claudette Barius, courtesy of Neon.