Dir. Clement Virgo
2023 | 119 mins | Canada
Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre, Marsha Stephanie Blake

SHOWING TIMES:

• Fri 15 Sep: 12.30pm | 5.30pm
• Sat 16 Sep: 2pm | 8.15pm
• Sun 17 Sep: 2pm | 8.15pm
• Mon 18 Sep: 2pm | 8.15pm
• Tue 19 Sep: 10.45am | 6.15pm
• Wed 20 Sep: 2pm | 8.15pm
• Thu 21 Sep: 2pm | 8.10pm

Winner of a record 12 Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Picture and Best Direction.

Clement Virgo’s staggering adaptation of David Chariandy’s award-winning 2017 novel about two brothers coming of age in 1990s Scarborough, where they reconcile their dreams and expectations with the violence that confronts them around every corner.

Elapsing across three timelines, from childhood to adolescence and onto young adulthood, the film explores the fluctuating relationship between two Jamaican-Canadian brothers who are inseparable; Michael and Francis. Francis (The Underground Railroad’s Aaron Pierre), the older sibling, is a pillar of the local community. Everyone – from the little kids riding their bikes in the street to the workers at the corner shop – knows who he is and is charmed by his helpful, easygoing demeanour. Michael (The Last of Us and The Hate U Give’s Lamar Johnson), by contrast, tries his hardest to be invisible, putting on his headphones and blocking out the world around him.

Each night they receive strict orders from their mother before she leaves for work; stay indoors and keep the TV off. But the two inevitably become entangled in what’s going on outside, and when the brothers become witnesses in a shooting that the course of their lives changes forever.

Realized through Virgo’s thoughtful direction, bolstered by exceptional performances, cinematography, and production design, Brother is a sorrowful but ultimately healing work that pays close attention to the need for kinship and community. With shades of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight – Brother ably wrestles with themes of memory, grief and regret. A film which never shirks the stultifying and deadly impact of racism, whilst nevertheless celebrating the joy and love that strengthen resistance.

Read the Production Notes here >> and find out a bit more about the making of the film, the adaptation process, the cast and crew, and the music.

∆ BBFC Rating Details:

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>