Rhys Ifans has never been better as a much-loved widower and teacher who finds his life transformed by an unexpected medical diagnosis.
Touch and go: Rhys Ifans and Rory Kinnear
Image courtesy of Icon Film Distribution.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Tony Evans has been a teacher at the same school for 32 years and is particularly good at play-acting and reading to his students, who adore him. He seems to find ways to pass on his enthusiasm to learn new things that mere text books cannot begin to imagine. When reading out loud from Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Tony concludes with the words, “’We have a long way to go,’ said the boy. ‘Yes,’ said the horse, ‘but look how far we’ve come’.” Tony then looks up with a smile, peering through his spectacles at the sea of upturned, expectant young faces in front of him,. “Is that the end?” one girl asks. “Is it a sad ending or a happy one?” To which Tony replies, “all stories can have a happy ending. It just depends on where you end them.”
Why this is a masterclass in storytelling is that intercut with this cosy moment in time is the scene of a chilling clinical procedure being carried out on somebody Tony cares about very deeply, both sequences neatly folded in Thomas Newman’s gentle score. Unlike many a ‘Disease of the Month’ TV movie of decades past, Onwards and Sideways is rooted in the reality of its very human characters facing the unimaginable. The matter-of-fact tone of the medical establishment is established by the neurologist played by Rory Kinnear, a figure one is unsure of whether to slap in the face or to cling onto for dear life. Because life is very dear and John Madden’s film reminds us that we must cherish what faculties we have, as others might not be so lucky.
The script is by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who also plays Tom in the film, and in another life he co-wrote the BBC’s beloved The Vicar of Dibley. Mayhew-Archer was inspired to write the new film when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2011 and decided to pull back the veil on all the common misconceptions about the condition, focusing instead on the people who have it rather than the disease itself. There have been huge breakthroughs in controlling the symptoms since the writer’s original diagnosis and here he provides both hope and humour in something that connects us all: unforeseen infirmity.
Yet besides Mayhew-Archer’s skilful and insightful script, the film is blessed by the man behind the camera: John Madden, whose previous credits include Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Madden really does know how to get the best out of his actors and here has corralled pitch-perfect performances from his cast, in particular Laura Linney (Showtime’s The Big C) and Monica Dolan as the battleaxe that is Liz Evans. But the real surprise is Rhys Ifans, who, as Tony, rises to his finest hour with immense compassion, zeal and grace.
The film cannot be recommended to the faint-hearted, but its positive stance – and the sanguinity of the character played by Laura Linney – tempers the worst aspects of an unforgiving disease. Even the side-effects are unthinkable, from a compulsion to gamble to losing one’s sense of smell. Thankfully, in between the throat-catching moments, there is considerable humour as well, which one might expect from the writer of The Vicar of Dibley. Had the last, somewhat unnecessary five minutes been excised, Onwards and Sidewards would have been a perfectly flawless movie.
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Laura Linney, Monica Dolan, Rory Kinnear, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sorcha Cusack, Nicholas Asbury, Sara Powell, Danielle Galligan, Leah Byrne, Ross McShane, Olivia Maffett, Julie Mayhew-Archer.
Dir John Madden, Pro Hilary Bevan Jones and John Gore, Ex Pro Rhys Ifans, John Madden, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Helen Flint, Lucy Richer and Hilary Strong, Screenplay Paul Mayhew-Archer, Ph Danny Cohen, Pro Des Peter Francis, Ed Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, Music Thomas Newman, Costumes Lauren Reyhani, Choreographer Kate Hartley-Stevens, Dialect coach William Conacher.
John Gore Studios/Hilltop Screen-Icon Film Distribution.
114 mins. UK. 2026. UK Rel: 6 November 2026. Cert. 15.
