‘Onwards and Sideways’ Director John Madden on Returning to TIFF After 16 Years With His Parkinson’s Romantic Drama Starring Laura Linney and Rhys Ifans

When director John Madden first read Paul Mayhew-Archer’s script that was based on his experience living with Parkinson’s disease, he knew it had a ways to go. But he recognized its potential.

Now nearly a decade later, Madden is ready to show “Onwards and Sideways” to buyers at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival. What initially started as a “boy meets girl” script evolved into something much more complicated, Madden says, now beginning with a chance encounter as two strangers are diagnosed with Parkinson’s on the same morning at the same hospital.

“That opened up a different kettle of fish,” Madden tells Variety. “It ended up being much more involving than one had anticipated.”

The story follows the ripple effects of that chance encounter between Tony (Rhys Ifans) and Emma (Laura Linney), a teacher and composer who find their lives forever intertwined as they take in the news that they only have “five good years” left to live, per their blunt neurologist. “Onwards and Sideways” follows the pair over the course of five chapters as they fall in love and change each other’s lives after Tony reluctantly takes up Emma’s suggestion on joining a Parkinson’s ballet class.

While much remains unknown about the disease, including the cause, over 10 million people are estimated to be living with Parkinson’s around the world, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. It’s a disorder of the nervous system that restricts movement across the body, and the effects are felt more over time.

“Most of us, in some way or another, are a degree or two of separation away from the condition,” Madden says. “You don’t have to go very far before you bump into that.”

Madden spent time working with both Ifans and Linney separately, and describes their chemistry as “natural” when they began rehearsing scenes together.

“The way they respond to one another was fantastic, particularly given that they were acting completely out of chronological order and working with a condition that actually had to be minutely calibrated from moment to moment,” Madden says.

Two consultants worked closely on the film and ensured that its depiction of Parkinson’s was authentic. That was especially important for Rhys and Linney, who portray characters with different symptoms.

“Very quickly, it became natural, instinctive,” Madden adds.

But while “Onwards and Sideways” is bringing Madden back to TIFF after 16 years, where he previously unspooled “The Debt” and “Proof,” it’s a noticeably different strategy than 1998‘’’s “Shakespeare in Love” employed, which put him on the map with a director Oscar nomination while the film won best picture.

“We weren’t in a position to go the festival route because [distributor Miramax] wanted to get it out before the end of the year,” Madden says, recalling the film’s effective late-year release strategy. “I said to [then Miramax topper] Harvey Weinstein, ‘Look, whatever we do, you can’t let people watch this with four or five people in a screening room. You have to put it with an audience.’ So we played it at the Paris Theater [in New York] and that was it.”

As Madden hops on a plane to Toronto, bringing “Onwards and Sideways” directly to audiences to see how they respond, he looks back on getting to collaborate with Mayhew-Archer and commends the BAFTA nominee’s “defiance” in living with Parkinson’s.

“He doesn’t belabor his own condition,” Madden says. “He’s on record as saying it’s one of the best things that ever happened to him.”