ONWARDS AND SIDEWAYS
by John Madden
synopsis
Tony Evans is deputy head of a primary school. Emma Dretzin is a musician and composer, and single mother of two daughters. Neither knows the other. Until a startling encounter changes the course of their lives. On the same morning, these two are simultaneously confronted with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. This film is the story of Tony and Emma – a friendship which unfolds unexpectedly. A story of humour and emotion, of challenge and bravado, of music and dance – transcending the assumptions of a little understood condition, and triumphing over the odds to find joy, release and love.
| international title: | Onwards and Sideways |
| original title: | Onwards and Sideways |
| country: | United Kingdom |
| sales agent: | Kaleidoscope Film Distribution |
| year: | 2026 |
| genre: | fiction |
| directed by: | John Madden |
| film run: | 115' |
| screenplay: | Paul Mayhew-Archer |
| cast: | Rhys Ifans, Laura Linney, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan |
| cinematography by: | Danny Cohen |
| film editing: | Úna Ní Dhonghaíle |
| art director: | Peter Francis |
| costumes designer: | Lauren Reyhani |
| music: | Thomas Newman |
| producer: | Hilary Bevan Jones, John Gore |
| executive producer: | Francis Hopkinson, Helen Flint, Paul Mayhew-Archer, John Madden, Hilary Strong, Lucy Richer, Ellie Wood, Rhys Ifans |
| production: | Hilltop Screen, John Gore Studios, BBC/BBC Film, Little Island Productions |















