Brother

Withdrawn, and a bit timid and unsure. Their mother (Marsha Stephanie Blake), a Jamaican immigrant, works long hours to support the boys, so Pierre becomes a de facto guardian for Johnson.

Flashing forward 10 years, we learn that Pierre has died and Blake has been nearly catatonic with grief for a decade. When Johnson's ex-girlfriend Kiana Madeira comes to visit, she initiates a chain of events that breaches the cocoon of grief that Johnson and Blake are living in.

This film is really beautifully shot, creating a really vivid sense of place, and it's wonderfully acted by the three leads. It alternates between the two timelines, showing how Pierre's restless ambition (he's involved with the nascent Toronto hip hop scene) and refusal to be anything less than a person with dignity sends him on a tragic spiral, and how the aftermath of this tragedy impacts his family a decade later.

It's got a few issues. It's really deliberate pace slows down a bit too much in the last half hour, and since we sort of see everything from Johnson's perspective, it has trouble making his motives as clear as everyone else's. Still, it's a powerful story well told and acted, and a really vivid depiction of the Toronto Caribbean community.

It follows a Canadian-Jamaican family in Scarborough, Ontario, over 20 years from 1981 to 2001.

Ruth (Marsha Stephanie Blake) is a Jamaican immigrant to Toronto, Canada. She has two sons--Francis (Jacob Williams/Aaron Pierre) and Michael (David Odion/Sabastian Nigel Singh/Lamar Johnson). Francis is older than Michael by a couple of years and is protective of his family in the father's absence. By his late teens, Francis is a large, physically intimidating man who acts with confidence but has some questionable friends. Michael is smaller, darker, less self-confident, and more studious in school. In high school, Michael is attracted to Aisha (Delia Lisette Chambers/Kiana Madeira), a Canadian-Jamaican neighbor whose father came from the same area of Jamaica as Ruth.

The story jumps back and forth between 1981, 1991, when a tragic event occurs, and 2001 when Michael is trying to hold things together. We see the bleakness of many Caribbean immigrant lives, the aura of violence that is never far away, and the problematic relationship with a lily-white 1991 Scarborough police force.

"Brother" is the story of family love persisting through trauma, shattered dreams of a hopeful Jamaican musician, and territorial conflicts between gangs of similar backgrounds, with a final glimmer of resolution at the end. "Brother" was a hard movie to watch because of its ring of truth and many dark scenes. The chemistry between Blake, Pierre, and Johnson was excellent. Madeira was also good. My biggest complaint was that I found the rapid jumping back and forth in time sometimes confusing. And I wonder if the metaphor of hydro-tower-climbing interspersed throughout the film really worked. Nonetheless, "Brother" is one of the better Canadian movies I've recently seen.

Brothers, a metaphor of love.

At first glance, this is a film about human dignity and family unity. However, it does not stop there. In its multiple layers, it explores other weighty and complex themes. Such as the fear that comes with daring to seek an identity in a society filled with prejudices and inequalities. It is also a movie about the choices we all have to make at some point in our lives, but in the case of these brothers, such decisions are made more difficult by the weight of the traumas and stigmas imposed by their environment. Which, through tragedy, pushes them towards anger, resentment, and violence.

To avoid drowning in this predetermined fate, they have only one lifeline; love, which also seems to be able to flourish in the driest deserts. Can they resist and save themselves, even if it's just one of them? This is the question posed at the beginning of the film, and which is revealed to us in a moving and sincere ending.

As for the technical aspects, the film is characterized by good photography, excellent handling of the shots, and a fragmented narrative with flash forwards and flashbacks, which although may seem confusing at times, at the end of each sequence, we realize that it is not, demonstrating how the apparent chaos prevails a sublime order.

If you are looking for a Hollywood-style movie simply to entertain yourself, this film is a 6 at best, possibly a 7. But if you are a sensitive and curious spirit who wonders what it's like to walk in the shoes of the less fortunate, then this film is for you.

Oh goodie, yet another movie that entirely defines black people by the trauma heaped upon them.

"Brother" has some good things going for it, notably a couple of the performances and a strong directorial vision. But it's too funereally paced and it's just so eager to wallow in everything that's depressing about the black experience and nothing that's joyful about it. It also feels behind the times -- the police brutality that plays a key role in this film has been explored a million times already in countless other ways. It's not that it isn't still relevant and urgent, it's just that this movie doesn't say anything about it that hasn't already been said by better movies.

And the LGBTQ storyline that came out of nowhere and is never commented on felt shoehorned into the film just to tick off another diversity box. It made no sense that it would be such a non-issue in the context of this film or in the world these young men live in.

Grade: B-

Great movie, great casting, beautifully shot scenes and visuals, just great storytelling all around! I really enjoyed the movie. After watching Aaron Pierre in Rebel Ridge, I thought his acting was so great that I had to research what else he had been in and I was led to watch this movie, I'm glad I did because he's definitely a star on the rise, I look forward to seeing what else he can do! Was it just me or nah but I thought Michael's girlfriend in the movie was Alicia Keys at first?! I also loved how the movie captured an accurate portrayal of a grieving Mother, I know that feeling all too well :(