RTS Presents: Onwards and Sideways + Producer Q&A

Dir: John Madden
Cast: Rory Kinnear, Rhys Ifans, Leah Byrne, Laura Linney, Monica Dolan
114 mins · 2026 · Cert 15
Tony Evans is deputy headteacher of a primary school. Emma Dretzin 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, these two are simultaneously 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.
A powerful, life-affirming British drama from Academy Award-nominated Director John Madden, Onwards and Sideways stars BAFTA Award-winner Rhys Ifans, Academy Award-nominee Laura Linney, Monica Dolan, and Rory Kinnear.