Clever dialogue; sharp drama – “The Christophers”

Peggy Earle
1 day ago
4 min read

BLU-RAY REVIEW / SDR SCREENSHOTS

38-year old English actor Michaela Coel plays Lori Butler, a broke art restorer who’s hired to secretly finish a series of paintings titled “The Christophers,” from the once-acclaimed artist Julian Sklar, played by 86-year-old Sir Ian McKellen.

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SDR screenshots courtesy of NEON - Click the jacket for an Amazon purchase

“THE CHRISTOPHERS”

Blu-ray; 2025; R for profanity

Best extra: A brief conversation between screenwriter Ed Solomon and writer/director Charlie Kaufman

THE LATEST offering from director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Ocean’s Trilogy,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Contagion,” “Black Bag”) focuses on a once-famous painter near the end of his life, and his relationship with the young woman he hires to be his assistant.

The film, penned by veteran screenwriter Ed Solomon (“Men in Black,” “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”), is a sort of pas de deux by the two lead actors: Sir Ian McKellen (“The Lord of the Rings Trilogy,” “Gods and Monsters”) as Julian, and Michaela Coel (“Chewing Gum” TV series) as Lori – but is also a showcase for McKellen, who noticeably relishes the long speeches he gets to perform. Julian’s two greedy, scheming adult children, Sallie and Barnaby, played by Jessica Gunning (“Baby Reindeer”) and James Corden (“The Late Late Show”), seem more like caricatures than well-rounded characters, but they provide some welcome chuckles in this relatively serious film.

Lori is a London painter, art restorer, and occasional forger. We first meet her serving Asian street food from a vendor’s truck, when she gets a phone call to meet with Sallie and Barnaby. They offer to pay her handsomely to ingratiate herself with their father and get hired as his assistant, so that she can locate a group of his unfinished paintings known as “The Christophers.” Lori is then supposed to secretly complete them, so they can be sold for millions after Julian dies, and Sallie and Barnaby can, shall we say, make a killing. Predictably, a complex relationship develops between the young woman and the curmudgeonly 85-year-old. Turns out they have a bit of a history, from when Lori was an art student, and Julian harshly judged one of her paintings on a TV show. Julian has so soured on the art world, that he held a yard sale for some of his work at bargain prices, and currently earns money making video greetings, while living as a virtual recluse in his London townhouse.

Except for one highly implausible scene, in which Lori expertly recites detailed analyses of each of Julian’s first series of “Christopher” paintings, the film is extremely satisfying and entertaining, thanks to the fine performances by the two leads.

(1&2) Lori gets a phone call to meet with Sallie (Jessica Gunning) and Barnaby (James Corden), the greedy adult children of artist Julian Sklar. (3-5) Lori discovers Sklar has two side-by-side townhomes in London and meets the artist on the fourth floor as he finishes a short online video for hire. (6) She captures photos of the unfinished “The Christophers.”

VIDEO

Soderbergh (credited as Peter Andrews) wears many hats. He captured all of the imagery using the 8K Redcode RAW digital camera (1.85:1 aspect), mounted with a spherical lens and a soft filter on the edge of the frame. Everything is beautifully mastered in 4K and downconverted for this NEON 1080p disc. Natural light dominates each scene with strong window light. The colors are mostly on the cool side, except when a warm work light illuminates Lori’s face.

The majority of the interiors are handheld, “which expresses the instability she feels emotionally,” Soderbergh says during an interview for Filmmaker Magazine. He also said, “I wouldn’t want to give up the intimacy of it [operating the camera]. The actors know they are seen…and when I’m that close to them, I can touch them sometimes, if I need to adjust them in the frame. I can whisper to them.”

The 18-day shoot provided little sleep for Soderbergh, who at night also assembled a rough edit of the daily footage. Honestly, a 4K UHD presentation with HDR would've been a nice touch from the folks at NEON.

AUDIO

The dialogue-driven storyline strangely includes a Dolby Atmos track, with minimal environmental sounds from London, and with a light, airy electronic score from Irish composer David Holmes (“Black Bag,” “Out of Sight,” “Ocean’s Trilogy”). The disc also includes a Dolby TrueHD six-channel soundtrack, where the front soundstage is dominated by the dialogue.

(1) Sklar works on a painting at his easel. (2) Lori, busy at her studio. (3&4) Barnaby finds a letter among his father's papers, while Lori and Sallie listen.

EXTRA

Conversation between screenwriter Ed Solomon and writer/director Charlie Kaufman – (2 mins.) the one (measly) feature except for the theatrical trailer.

Solomon recalls Soderbergh telling him, “I want to do a little chamber piece, with maybe two actors … with a Patricia Highsmith feel to it … featuring an older artist and a younger artist.” Solomon says he “always wanted to write something about several relationships I’d had with mentor figures in my life.” Julian, he adds, is a “very specific type of character … that fit (McKellen) like a glove.” Solomon admits, “I did what you’re never supposed to do … write this for two specific actors, the only two actors on the planet who could play the roles.”

Kaufman (“Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich” & “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) adds, “This is a play; I love movies that are plays! … It’s two people talking, and it felt effortless to me.” To Solomon, “It felt very freeing, because of the limitations. I wanted the story to still be surprising, and have its fun. I did less outlining than I usually do, to allow myself to be surprised.”

— Peggy Earle & Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer

(1) Gallery show devoted to Sklar and other artists he inspired. (2) Lori opens a gift left to her by Sklar.

SPECS

25 GB disc
TRUE 4K mastering, but downconverted to 1080p
Captured on 8K Redcode RAW digital camera, mounted with spherical lens (1.85:1 aspect ratio)
Video bitrate: Averages around 20 Megabits per second, with a running time of 100 minutes.
Box office: The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025. Its worldwide box office hit $5 million, with the largest gross in the U.K.
Rotten Tomatoes: Top Critics’ 98 percent, Audiences 87 percent.
Metacritic: Critics 79 percent, User Score 6.2