The Christophers
Neon | Release Date: April 10, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
37
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 16, 2026
Much of the fun of The Christophers – and it is very fun – is in anticipating the hitches, then startling when they snag left rather than right. The delight is in watching Coel and McKellen play off each other. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonApr 15, 2026
McKellen and Coel give a master class in line readings throughout “The Christophers.” It’s a real pleasure watching two seasoned actors bounce off each other in service to creating their characters. It’s even more delightful to see this in a film made for adults that has plenty to say about human nature, love, and the inspirations that fuel our lives. Read full review
60
ColliderRoss BonaimeSep 15, 2025
An intriguing formal experiment from Steven Soderbergh, focused on two solid performances by Sir Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentMay 8, 2026
Another solidly gripping film from the ever-prolific Soderbergh, this is a terrific two-hander, with Coel and McKellen on fine, fierce form. Read full review
80
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaApr 17, 2026
Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel deliver two brilliant, diametrically opposed performances in Steven Soderbergh’s gentle art world caper. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 9, 2025
Real or fake, finished or not, a genre exercise or a full-hearted statement of purpose, the things we create have an impact on the world that no market could ever be able to measure. And, for better or worse, the same is true of the people who are brave enough to create them. Read full review
70
Little White LiesMarina AshiotiMay 17, 2026
It’s a brilliant showcase of both McKellen and Coel’s talents. The contrast between them is rich and layered, down to the detail of costume designer Eleanor Baker’s choice of knitwear and corduroys in warm and cool tones. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesAmy NicholsonApr 10, 2026
Out of magnanimity, I’ll liken this trifle to a Rothko. The more I think about The Christophers, the more I imagine it has interesting layers. But I won’t fault anyone who just sees a simple square. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreApr 10, 2026
For all the undercurrents about fame, commodification, and reputation that flow through The Christophers, at its core is a more plaintive lament about what it feels like to love something that doesn’t love you back. Read full review
60
Next Best PictureNadia DalimonteSep 9, 2025
The Christophers may not be Soderbergh operating at his peak, nor does the film build to a satisfying or impactful conclusion. Regardless, Coel and McKellen make this creative endeavour worthwhile. Read full review
100
Original-CinLiam LaceyApr 16, 2026
The Christophers is full of heady thumb-sucking questions about legacy, artistic expression and commerce, and reinvention, a subject Soderbergh knows well. This is far from blockbuster Soderbergh (Erin Brokovich, the Oceans trilogy, Magic Mike), but a return to the basics: A set, a mobile camera, a couple of terrific actors, and a story to explain what brings them there. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzApr 9, 2026
Ian McKellen is stunningly good as the older painter, Julian Sklar, a 1960s Swingin’ London sensation who has aged into a decrepit caricature of himself. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearApr 10, 2026
Had The Christophers just been a cross-generational punch-up, the sort of flinty showdown designed to throw off pleasurable sparks, you’d still walk away content. It remains a conduit for two of the best performances you’ll see all year. But Soderbergh and his two stars want to concentrate on the embers, what fans them and what keeps them burning. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 15, 2026
Instead of settling for a tour de force from McKellen, Soderbergh goes for something better — a fascinating give and take from start to finish. Read full review
70
Screen DailyRobert DanielsSep 8, 2025
As a double act, McKellen and Coel are a charming pairing, combining a classic wit and neo-soul cool to delightful results. Read full review
70
Screen RantRachel LaBonteSep 11, 2025
The Christophers trusts its two leads and their characters to guide the audience to its desired conclusion, and watching it unfurl is a rewarding experience. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerApr 17, 2026
As this legitimately clever story begins to unfold it initially seems like director Steven Soderbergh made a talkier, smaller-scale spiritual sequel to his Ocean’s 11 heist films. And if The Christophers was just a straight-forward thriller, and it would have been a nifty little entertainment. But screenwriter Ed Solomon repeatedly surprises us with one plot twist after another. He and Soderbergh really invest in Sklar and Lori’s twinned biographies of artistic passion and pain, until the film becomes far richer than a simple crime story. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineSeth KatzApr 5, 2026
The film brims with hilarious dialogue, lightly satirical observations of a culture that treats art as a commodity, and satisfying payoffs to a number of story elements planted early on. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrApr 8, 2026
This latest film by the great and astonishingly prolific Steven Soderbergh is not out to give the audience what they think they want from him. Instead, it’s a meditation on art, legacy, creativity and the oh-so-touchy subject of who has the right to critique. Read full review
80
The AtlanticDavid SimsApr 10, 2026
As is typical of a Soderbergh production, The Christophers doesn’t waste an ounce of its limited resources; the director always knows exactly how to keep the viewer on the hook while allowing the story’s emotions room to breathe. The real heist of The Christophers is that Soderbergh snuck such a bittersweet tale into cinemas, dressed up as a silly caper. Read full review
85
The Daily BeastNick SchagerSep 8, 2025
With Ian McKellen in superbly crotchety form and Michaela Coel exuding chilly cunning, it’s further proof that Soderbergh remains one of American cinema’s most inimitable, and adventurous, auteurs. Read full review
58
The Film StageChristopher SchobertSep 8, 2025
For audiences wishing to see two actors dig into juicy roles, The Christophers will get the job done. If you’re looking for a deep analysis of originality and artifice, look elsewhere. Read full review
80
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 14, 2026
Soderbergh, once again acting as his own cinematographer under the alias Peter Andrews (and editor, with the nom de plume Mary Ann Bernard), finds his own way of keeping the camera swirling and twirling, electrifying lengthy, densely composed monologues that require some visual energy to keep them from landing with a cinematic thud. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 14, 2026
The double act of McKellen and Coel has the onscreen chemistry of the year. Read full review
80
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 9, 2025
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. It doesn’t end up there, at least not strictly, but it’s unpredictable enough to never make us entirely sure just where it’s heading. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 9, 2025
Few are going to rate The Christophers as top-tier Soderbergh, but it bats about ideas pertaining to art, commerce, ownership and legacy with dexterous aplomb and boasts two equally superb leads who make the material crackle. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMay 14, 2026
I wonder how much Soderbergh connects to the material there. He’s a filmmaker who almost moves too fast to be known. But I’m certain there’s a piece of his soul in The Christophers, if you look hard enough. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyMay 13, 2026
The camera dutifully records esteemed actors – including one Corrie veteran, as it happens – talking in beautifully appointed rooms, but it seldom finds the cinematic spark that might elevate the drama beyond a polished theatrical exercise. Read full review
90
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonApr 9, 2026
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. Read full review
90
The New YorkerJustin ChangApr 17, 2026
The invasion in this movie is neither an assault nor a threat; it’s an invitation to open doors and let fresh inspiration in. Read full review
90
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMay 15, 2026
Soderbergh’s film is rich with such small but perfectly judged flourishes, and it is this depth of character development, together with the crackling chemistry between McKellen and his co-star Michaela Coel, that makes this odd-couple art world tale so charmingly raffish. Read full review
75
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 8, 2025
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. Read full review
80
The RevealScott TobiasApr 10, 2026
The Christophers is a slippery customer, an ingenious and twisty two-hander that shifts in tone as Lori and Julian get their hooks into each other. Coel and McKellen prove to be a combustible pair, two actors of contrasting generations, genders, and race who parry in darkly funny sessions that morph in complexity as their characters continue to try to outflank each other. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 15, 2026
There’s enjoyment to be had watching McKellen, 86, gamely pecking away at the role, snacking on morsels in every scene. If only he’d been given a fuller feast. Read full review
80
The TimesTom ShoneMay 16, 2026
The film is too talky and play-like to properly satisfy as cinema, but if you can roll with the dramatic slenderness, the pairing of McKellen and Coel never ceases to be delicious. Read full review
80
The TimesKevin MaherMay 15, 2026
Soderbergh, as proved with his Ocean’s franchise, is a veritable heist-meister. Yet this is possibly the genre’s loosest, least rigorous entry, a film that instead opts for existential inquiry and complex character portraiture. Read full review
88
The Travers TakePeter TraversApr 10, 2026
An electrifying Ian McKellen hits a new career peak and takes an early shot at Oscar in Steven Soderbergh’s unmissable tale of an artist and his forger, played by the brilliant Michaela Coel. Read full review
75
TheWrapChase HutchinsonSep 8, 2025
The characters may cut into the cinematic canvas with a knife, smother it with glue, and just generally wreck it, but they can’t destroy what Soderbergh has achieved. Read full review
90
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 10, 2026
Simultaneously meticulous and casual, it’s the kind of movie only a master filmmaker could have made—though it's doubtful Soderbergh, perpetually moving away from one movie and toward the next, thinks of himself as a master filmmaker at all. Read full review
80
Time OutElizabeth WeitzmanApr 8, 2026
It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s also never, as Lori grudgingly notes about Julian’s work, uninteresting. And in this cultural moment, that’s an authentic win. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 8, 2025
Some things you simply can’t fake. Take talent: There’s no room for anything shy of genius in The Christophers. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithApr 10, 2026
The Christophers is zingy fun. Whichever world Mr. Soderbergh decides to visit, he invariably makes the trip worthwhile. Read full review
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