Two teenage brothers must face their prejudices head on if they are to survive the perils of being young, British Arabs on the streets of gangland London.
A highly promising debut; if our credulity gets roughed up in places, its warmth, compassion and maturity bring a ray of sunshine to Brit-film’s bleakest genre.
Director Sally El Hosaini has a good eye for detail that keeps this very watchable.
Sally El Hosaini’s debut film offers a more nuanced and enlightened take on urban youth culture than the crop of “Broken Britain” exploitation films that have sprung up in recent years.
The plotting may be a tad unconvincing at times but the performances are outstanding.
It’s easy to allow the script its touches of overstatement when the film’s this visually poetic, but we shouldn’t soft-pedal the gumption of what El Hosaini’s asking us to face. It’s wholly plausible, and more than a little sobering.
Huggable hoodies.
It's an athletic, loose-limbed piece of movie-making, not perfect, but bursting with energy and adrenaline.
El Hosaini...and director of photography David Raedeker have thought hard about the lighting and shooting, and it pays off. It also benefits from two excellent performances from Floyd and Elsayed.
Already a compelling gangland saga, this vastly promising debut turns into something more surprising when social prejudice becomes the characters’ weapon of choice. If that sounds too much like a lecture, El Hosaini’s voice remains crisp, cool and consistently street-smart.
The performances are uneven, but as the brothers, Floyd and Elsayed are both rather good.
This didn't quite work for us, despite oodles of great work up on the screen.
On the face of it, My Brother is a tale as old as Cain and Abel, but outstanding performances from Floyd and Elsayed, a strong story, and the way El Hosaini handles the sometimes harrowing material in a low-key way, mark her out as a director to watch.
General release. Check local listings for show times.