Ian McKellen's Underrated 2025 Heist Movie From A Legendary Director Is A Hulu Must-Watch

From the synopsis alone, one would be forgiven for assuming that "The Christophers" is sneakily the best thriller from last year that most mainstream audiences haven't seen. Ian McKellen stars as Julian Sklar, a world-famous painter in the twilight of his career — and his life — who just so happens to be sitting on the most highly-anticipated, incomplete piece of art since George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels. Uninterested at best and downright combative at worst about the prospects of actually putting an exclamation mark on his life's work, a series of paintings known as The Christophers, Sklar's stubbornness and failing health motivates his vulture-like son and daughter to come up with the heist of a lifetime: Hire a talented painter/professional forger, have her pose as Julian's assistant, and find and surreptitiously "finish" these paintings to be sold for a fortune following Julian's inevitable death.

Factor in that this is directed by Steven Soderbergh ("Logan Lucky," the "Ocean's" trilogy) and written by Ed Solomon ("No Sudden Move," the "Now You See Me" movies, "Men in Black"), and it would seem like "The Christophers" practically writes itself — but that's hardly the case at all. As with many of Soderbergh's most recent efforts, which some have mistakenly dismissed as "minor" works amidst an all-timer oeuvre, the simplicity of its story belies its ambitious goals. This begins as a heist movie, crescendos as a messy interpersonal drama, and ends as a treatise on the definition of art and how we relate to the artist.

As "The Christophers" makes its streaming debut on Hulu, come for its home run of a premise, stay for its profoundly nuanced perspective on artistry, and prepare to spend weeks turning over this curio in your mind long after the credits roll.

Despite the grand scale of modern classics like "Traffic" or "Ocean's Eleven," Steven Soderbergh's most recent phase of his career is marked by almost stage-like chamber pieces where the claustrophobia is entirely the point — as proven by the COVID-era "Kimi," the largely one-location ghost story "Presence," and certainly "The Christophers." It takes no time at all for the main plot to kick into gear, as Michaela Coel's skilled artist Lori Butler quickly accedes to the scheme concocted by spurned children (and untalented grifters) Sallie and Barnaby Sklar, portrayed by Jessica Gunning and James Corden, respectively — both of whom are perfectly cast. That's pretty much the extent of the film's main characters, but Soderbergh and Ed Solomon further constrict the scope of the story until it's a genuine two-hander set within the creaky confines and dusty remains of Julian's life.

The real fireworks start once Lori inserts herself into Julian Sklar's life and finds out that this past-his-prime, acid-tongued legend isn't quite the doddering patriarch his children make him out to be. Ian McKellen may be gearing up for some mind-numbing green screen work in "Avengers: Doomsday," but "The Christophers" is a timely reminder of the magic this thespian can conjure when given material he can truly chew on. Much of the middle portions of the film come down to a verbal chess match between Julian and Lori, each sizing up the other as we struggle to discern the underlying tension beneath their every conversation. To her unending credit, Coel (most recently seen in "Mother Mary") goes toe-to-toe with her co-star, staving off his every attempt to cut her down to size and dishing it out in kind.

With respect to all the "Ocean's Twelve" and "Ocean's Thirteen" truthers out there, "The Christophers" may rightfully claim the title of Steven Soderbergh's most underrated heist film — even if it's actually much more than that. While the simmering suspicions between Lori and Julian brew, the movie makes the first of its many clever pivots and turns into an exploration of what it really means to be an artist. The screenplay gestures at broad ideas like cancel culture and generational divides. ("I was bisexual, Lori, when it actually cost something to say so," Julian haughtily sniffs at one point.) But the real meat of the story comes from its interrogation into why Julian has been so hesitant to complete his recurring portraits of a subject named Christopher, how his views of art have poisoned his reputation in a world that has long since moved on, and what he has left to offer to young artists like Lori who have such radically different views on life.

All of the central drama boils down to a few fundamental questions as the question of legacy and fame looms over the proceedings — crystallized by Lori's thinly-veiled contempt for this painter who once meant so much to her. By the same token, the mystery at the heart of Julian's behavior focuses on something just as intangible. What happens when the line blurs between innovation and inspiration? How much control can someone have over how their work is perceived at large? And does the essential "truth" of any given art even matter, or is that merely the start of the conversation?

"The Christophers" offers no easy answers, but that's precisely what makes it an essential streaming watch.