My Brother the Devil (U.K.)
Cineplex Odeon Yonge & Dundas Cinemas, also on iTunes, Facebook and DVD
Written and directed by Sally El Hosaini
Starring James Floyd, Fady Elsayed
Rating 3/5
Two brothers of Egyptian Arabic descent live in Hackney, a rough
part of London where gangs are a way of life.
The elder Rash is deep into a gang while his young brother Mo wears a uniform
to school where he has good friends and teachers. He’s fascinated by his brother’s lifestyle.
James Floyd and Fady Elsayed
Rash attempts to protect him from it, but Mo is determined
to be part of it. He admires his brother
whom he sees as a hero and the family breadwinner, always able to buy food and
slip a few pounds into his mother’s wallet.
When he witnesses Rash committing a violent or criminal act,
it doesn’t strike Mo as especially bad. Their
father knows something fishy is going on but he’s driving a cab and not present
much, for either boy.
The straightforward story of the brothers is unnecessarily complicated
by red herrings. Two important moments occur when Mo learns something about his
brother he can’t tolerate and he meets a conservative Muslim girl who is too naïve
to now he’s looking to gang life.
This is a sympathetic portrait of two young men at an
important time in their lives, on the cusp of adulthood. Their journeys take them in surprising and
opposing directions, the way they do. People
are always surprising us and that’s life, reflected naturally and organically
here.
El Hosaini does an admirable and cinematic job, but she may
have thrown out too many distractions. There
is plenty within the central story as they learn that family counts, street
life is deadly and love is an answer.
The images of these boys trying to defend themselves and move forward won’t
soon go away.
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