Watch Rhys Ifans and Laura Linney in the Onwards and Sideways trailer

Tony Evans (Rhys Ifans); Emma Dretzin (Laura Linney). COPYRIGHT:Hilltop Screen (One) Ltd,CREDIT LINE:BBC/Hilltop Screen/Jonathan Birch

Starring BAFTA award winner Rhys Ifans (Inheritance, House of the Dragon) and three-time Oscar nominee, Emmy and Golden Globe award winner Laura Linney (Ozark, Love Actually), Onwards and Sideways is the emotional and surprisingly funny story of two people with lots in common – a great sense of humour, a love of adventure, and an unexpected diagnosis of Parkinson’s.

Tony (Ifans) is deputy headteacher of a primary school. Emma (Linney) is a musician and composer, and a single mother of two daughters. Neither knows the other, until a startling encounter changes the course of their lives. On the same morning, they are both confronted with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease.

Onwards and Sideways is their story – a friendship which unfolds unexpectedly. A story of humour, courage, music, movement and the transformative power of human connection. Challenging assumptions, the film celebrates the capacity to find joy, freedom and hope, even in life’s most difficult moments.

Rounding off the film’s stellar supporting cast is Monica Dolan (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Sherwood) and Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power).

The feature film from John Gore Studios and Hilltop Screen is written by Paul Mayhew-Archer (The Vicar of Dibley, Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, co-host of award-winning Parkinson’s podcast Movers and Shakers) and directed by Oscar-nominee John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, Operation Mincemeat, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) who continues his longtime collaboration with the multiple Oscar-nominated composer, Thomas Newman. Produced by Hilary Bevan Jones of Hilltop Screen, John Gore of John Gore Studios, and the BBC, executive producers are Hilary Strong, Francis Hopkinson, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Ellie Wood, Helen Flint, Rhys Ifans, and John Madden, with Lucy Richer for the BBC. Alfie Johnson is co-producer.

Following the film’s highly anticipated World Premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in a TIFF Gala Presentation on 13 September, Onwards and Sideways will be released in UK cinemas from 6 November by Icon Film Distribution and shown on BBC iPlayer and BBC One later in the year.

Icon Film Distribution presents Onwards and Sideways in UK cinemas from 6 November. Released on BBC iPlayer and BBC One later in the year.