Ian McKellan and Michaela Coel make art in the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers

Except that that is not the film Soderbergh seems to have been interested in making—at least, not according to the trailer Neon released for the movie today. Instead, The Christophers is revealed to be far more of a character piece between Coel’s Lori and McKellan’s Julian, with her giving up the whole con to him during the trailer herself. (Sorry, James Corden and Jessica Gunning; better schemes next time.) Indeed, we seem to have here a vehicle for Coel—who hasn’t had a really meaty on-screen role to tear into since I May Destroy You had its memorable run in 2020—to radiate her characters’ love of art, and for McKellan to project an appealing flavor of cynical bitterness about the state of both his life, and his talents.

The Christophers debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, where it got almost universally strong reviews—including our own B+ assessment of Soderbergh’s movie. In their review, Jason Gorber called the film “Arty, accessible, profound, and profane,” reserving especial praise for McKellan’s performance as reclusive artist Julian Sklar. The rest of us will be able to make our own judgment on the film’s artistic merits soon; The Christophers is slated to arrive in theaters on April 10.