The Christophers

Friday, September 12: This film will be presented with open captions, but please note, ASL interpretation will not be available for the live onstage elements of the screening.

This incisively witty chamber comedy from Oscar winner and Festival fixture Steven Soderbergh ushers us into a tangled web of art, commerce, and long-brewing resentments. Written by Men in Black scenarist Ed Solomon and featuring an acerbic turn from the great Ian McKellen, The Christophers is one of Soderbergh’s most delicious entertainments in years.

Having all but given up her own art practice, thirtysomething Lori (I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel) divides her time between freelance art restoration and working the window of a food truck. Her fortunes promise to change, however, when she’s approached by the estranged heirs (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) of renowned painter Julian Sklar (McKellen) with a tantalizing proposition: Lori is to apprehend a series of long-abandoned paintings from Sklar’s London home, complete the paintings using her masterful imitation skills, and receive a third of the profits from the sale of the paintings following the old man’s imminent death. Lori accepts the gig, infiltrating Sklar’s home under the pretense of becoming his new assistant, but the ruse quickly goes awry in a series of titillating twists and shifting allegiances.

McKellen’s embodiment of the crotchety, self-absorbed, has-been art star is a masterclass in go-for-broke brilliance, but it’s Coel as the reluctant forger who steals the show. Cagey, cool, and unwilling to ingratiate, Lori’s conflicted motives are beautifully contained in Coel’s comedic deadpan. The Christophers emerges as a dazzling duet between these actors, both unafraid of delving into deviousness to reveal thorny truths about artistic integrity.

CAMERON BAILEY