The making of this independently made biopic about The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein endured a long and winding road. Filming began in October 2021 but after four weeks, director Jonas Åkerlund left the project for unspecified reasons. When Sara Sugarman took over the reins, production was delayed for over a year while budgetary issues and scheduling conflicts were resolved. Filming finally resumed in May 2023 with a third director, Joe Stephenson, now in charge. That the resulting film shows some signs of its production difficulties in perhaps inevitable, yet for the most part Midas Man remains a cohesive, if somewhat cursory, look at “the fifth Beatle”.

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Anchoring the film is Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, whose engaging performance greatly assists the often-perilous breaking of the fourth wall. Not only does this device avoid the trope of an annoying voice-over, it also dispenses with any long-winded exposition of Epstein’s life pre-Beatles. Consequently, we arrive at the Cavern Club early in the piece, where four scruffy looking lads belt out Leiber and Stoller’s ‘Some Other Guy’. Recognising the band’s unique talent, Epstein abandons his family’s retail business and and embarks on a career in the music industry.

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Like many Beatles-centric biopics, Midas Man’s budget prevented the inclusion of any Lennon- McCartney compositions, limiting the soundtrack to the Fab Four’s cover versions of ‘Money’, ‘Please Mr. Postman’ and (perhaps despairingly) ‘Bésame Mucho’. Where the film’s constraints are betrayed is the repeated depiction of Epstein walking towards the camera explaining the Beatles' hectic touring schedule while news clips and stock footage fill in the gaps. The scant attention paid to these years leaves the impact that the group’s decision to stop touring undeveloped. Subsequently, Epstein’s breakdown seems to come out of the blue.

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Emily Watson and Eddie Marsan provide good support as Epstein’s parents, but cameos from the likes of Eddie Izzard and Jay Leno barely register. As for the actors portraying the Beatles, it would appear the casting of the diminutive Jonah Lees as John Lennon may square the ledger for Nowhere Boy.​