The Christophers Blu-ray Review: Soderbergh Paints a Masterpiece

Sometimes the best way to experience a great film is to know nothing about it. I went into this Blu-ray viewing looking forward to the acting prowess of Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, knowing very little about the story and forgetting that Steven Soderbergh was the director. It quickly became quite obvious that a master was at work behind the lens, even as the powerful acting duo took total control of the screen with their dynamic performances. The film is so assured that even the inclusion of polarizing James Corden in a small supporting role barely disturbs the flow.

Coel stars as a talented art forger named Lori who is hired by the greedy children (Corden and Jessica Gunning) of a famous elderly artist named Julian Sklar (McKellen). They want her to finish their father’s long-abandoned set of paintings from a world-famous series known as The Christophers so that they’ll have an inheritance when he dies. She has the requisite skills, needs the money, and is curious about the mercurial elder Sklar as a longtime fan of his work, so she embeds in his home as his assistant and sets about figuring out how she can remove and complete his works before he wants her to destroy them.

There are plenty of sappy stories of reverent young apprentices meeting and getting to know their veteran heroes, but this isn’t one of them. Instead, Soderberg dives deep into the complex dynamics of each character, peeling back the layers on their personalities as they warily search for common ground. Ed Solomon’s script spools out much like a play, with the two dancing around each other within the confines of Sklar’s home studio, neither trusting the other’s intentions even as they attempt to maintain a professional relationship. Sklar is all prickly bitterness as his career and life wind down, mourning his past even as he’s determined to purge all traces of it before his exit. Lori is reserved but tightly wound, harboring her own past resentment about Sklar although she still respects his monumental talent.

McKellen and Coel are perfectly cast and equally powerful as they play off each other, so locked in throughout the film that it’s impossible to look away. Soderbergh harnesses their masterful performances to deliver a mesmerizing story that is much more concerned with its insightful trip than its unsurprising but satisfying conclusion. He has boiled the story down to its bare essence here, with no need for fancy production design or cinematography, leaving just two stunning thespians locked in a fascinating battle of wills where the audience comes out the winner.

The Blu-ray presents the film in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and 2.0 descriptive audio options. As a two-hander almost entirely set in one interior location, there’s little need for spatial audio, but rare exterior scenes make some use of it. Although picture quality ranges slightly dark due to Sklar’s poorly lit London home, sparse lighting generates enough warmth to prevent any graininess. Bonus features are the theatrical trailer and a conversation between Solomon and Charlie Kaufman, surfacing from relative obscurity just long enough to add his stamp of approval to this notable film.