Steven Soderbergh‘s new film The Christophers has arrived at Picturehouse cinemas. The cast isn’t holding back on recommending it.
Picturehouse posted on Instagram this week. Sir Ian McKellen and the cast “have no reservations about recommending it,” the post said. Full-cast endorsements don’t come around often. Usually a studio sends one or two names out for press obligations. The whole ensemble publicly backing a project together generally means the experience was good from start to finish. It’s the kind of organic word-of-mouth that doesn’t come from a PR playbook.
McKellen turns 87 this month. Most people discovered him as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, or as Magneto across the X-Men franchise. Those roles are iconic. They tell only part of the story, though. McKellen spent decades building one of the great stage careers in British theater. Hollywood came calling much later. Most actors at his level gave up on live performance years ago. McKellen never did. In 2024 he returned to London’s West End in Player Kings, a production based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays. It earned him strong notices. A stage run and a new film role in the same two-year stretch, at 87, is a pace worth noting.
Soderbergh has been one of the most consistently active directors in Hollywood for the past two decades. He won the Best Director Oscar for Traffic in 2001 and spent much of the 2000s building the Ocean’s franchise into some of the most entertaining work of that era. He never settled, though. He shot the psychological thriller Unsane in 2018 on an iPhone. He put No Sudden Move on HBO Max in 2021 and Kimi on the same platform in 2022. He treats each project on its own terms and doesn’t seem interested in repeating himself.
Putting The Christophers out as a theatrical-only release through Picturehouse says something on its own. Streaming has made exclusive cinema runs less common at this level. The Christophers hasn’t announced a streaming date. Going to Picturehouse first suggests the filmmakers want audiences to see it in a cinema.
Picturehouse has been one of the stronger arthouse chains in the UK for years. They back films that would get overlooked in a standard wide-release weekend. The programming gives those films more time to build an audience. The chain has a loyal base that shows up for exactly this kind of film. The Christophers fits that environment.
Story details haven’t circulated widely yet. The title and the cast are the calling card for now. An ensemble led by McKellen and directed by Soderbergh is already a compelling enough reason for plenty of film fans to show up. For everyone else, the reviews will do the talking soon.
The Christophers is out now at Picturehouse cinemas. Showtimes and locations are available on the Picturehouse website.
