Review - Brother
Directed by: Clement Virgo
Written by: Clement Virgo
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Lamar Johnson, Kiana Madeira, Lovell Adams-Gray, Marsha Stephanie Blake
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rating: 4/5
Clement Virgo's Brother begins with a warning sign: "High Voltage: Stay Out." As the camera pans back, we note the warning is for a series of electrical towers that sit on sprawling land — the looming architecture of downtown Toronto in the background. This is where we meet the brother(s) in question: the older and tougher Francis and the younger and fragile Michael. From the onset, we understand the dynamic completely: Francis is the protector of Michael — at once friend, parental figure, teacher, and brother. Francis coaches Michael on their task: to climb one of the electrical towers. Michael is naturally nervous but curious, while Francis is assured and measured in his instructions. Once the two begin their ascent to the clouds, we cut to 10 years later and are instantly aware that one of them does not survive. But is it because of the dangerous climb or the violence surrounding their youth? The answer remains a mystery until the film's final act but acts as a catalyst to explore the Black immigrant experience in '90s Scarborough, Ontario.
Francis and Michael live with their mother, Ruth, a Jamaican-Canadian immigrant (Trinidadian-Canadian in the book) who tirelessly works a night job to afford her kids an existence envisioned by many immigrant parents who try and cultivate more options for their family than they ever had. Their father left years ago, and his presence, or lack thereof, is certainly felt by the boys and their mother. As the film cross-cuts between their childhood, young adulthood, and adulthood, we watch as Francis, Michael, and Ruth navigate their day-to-day interpersonal conflict while trying to survive in a system stacked against them and many others like them. Furthermore, the economic trauma is expertly juxtaposed with the imminent threat of actual violence the boys are exposed to on the news and in their neighbourhood, compounding the family's tumult and adding pressure to the film's ticking time bomb question.
“Brother is not only a potent film about a specific Black Canadian community rarely showcased on the big screen but also a rumination on the Universal — familial trauma, generational violence, “manhood,” and the power of moving forward with grace and compassion.”
Aaron Pierre's performance as the firm yet contemplative Francis is nothing short of star-making. Virgo noted during the Q&A that Pierre brought both masculinity and femininity to the role, and it's an apt way to capture the complexity of Francis' need to both protect his brother and mother but also be the type of man he actually wants to be outside of the roles assigned in this family unit. Johnson is quietly effective as the naive little brother who wears his emotions on his face, can't seem to stick up for himself, and is crushing on Aisha, played with fervent sincerity by Kiana Madeira. But it is Marsha Stephanie Blake as Ruth who is the beating heart of this story. Like many immigrant mothers on film, Ruth is filled with rich texture, made up of her past life and the one she's living now for her kids. Straddling between loving and volatile, Blake's Ruth showcases that a mother's love is never-ending and far-reaching, even after a child leaves this world.
Beautifully framed with lush hues by Guy Godfree and edited with a dream-like precision by Kyle Meechan, Brother is not only a potent film about a specific Black Canadian community rarely showcased on the big screen but also a rumination on the Universal — familial trauma, generational violence, "manhood," and the power of moving forward with grace and compassion.