REVIEW: Brother, the immigrant experience in the GTA

Scarborough takes centre stage in a film that highlights the immigrant experience in the Greater Toronto Area. Film critic James Mackin has a review of 'Brother'.

By James Mackin

Being the child of immigrants means living a life your parents work for and dream for. They take jobs cleaning, gardening, working security all in the hope that their children can live a better life. Brother is a film about living as that child, and the immense pressure that can come from that.

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Lamar Johnson and Aaron Pierre in Brother, courtesy of Elevation Pictures.

Long time Toronto-based director Clement Virgo’s latest film takes a story of two brothers born and raised in Scarborough. Both of them react to the pressure of being a second generation immigrant differently. Michael (played by Lamar Johnson from the Last of Us) is the younger of two brothers born to Jamaican immigrant Ruth (played by Marsha Stephanie Blake from When They See Us). She works as a cleaner, barely making rent for their tiny two bedroom apartment, all in the hope that her two sons will be something better. The elder son, Francis (played by Aaron Pierre from Old), dreams for something more.

Obsessed with every type of music he can get his hands on, Francis dreams of leaving high school behind and becoming a producer. Finding local talent and taking them to the next level is where his heart lies. But being a black man in the late 20th century comes with immense struggles, ones that many don’t survive.

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Lovell Adams-Gray and Aaron Pierre in Brother, courtesy of Elevation Pictures.

This film was shot and set entirely in Scarborough, and it was funded partially by Ontario Creates. It’s set in the early 1990s during a particularly hot summer, when everyone’s concern is just staying cool throughout the day, and staying alive. The film is a realistic drama, one that places the viewer into the environment as if we were a fly on the wall. The film is an incredibly accurate representation of what it’s like to live in Scarborough in this time period, but it’s also a universal portrayal of the immigrant experience. Anyone who grew up the child of an immigrant will see themselves in this film.

The true power of the film lies in its performances, especially the two leads. Michael is a teenager hoping to make his way in the world by taking care of the people he loves, while Francis is a man unsure if this is the life for him. He sees the immigrant experience as keeping people stuck. Stuck in a place, stuck in the lower class, stuck in a system that sees black men frequently punished for the crime of existing. Michael wants to live his life, but Francis wants to surpass his.

The opening scene depicts the two mental states of both of them. The two brothers climb a transmission tower, Francis leading and Michael following. Francis urges Michael that he’ll be safe climbing it so long as he follows him exactly, and Francis forges his own way up. The scene is frequently returned to several times as a reminder of the bond between the two, and more as the film’s story unfolds.

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Marsha Stephanie Blake and various others in Brother, courtesy of Elevation Pictures.

Both the brothers are excellent, but special mention must be given to the performance of their mother. Marsha Stephanie Blake plays a woman constantly fighting through exhaustion, depression, and a worsening mental state to give her children the best life possible. In her eyes, she carries the weight of the world and an immense hope for her children.

For anyone living in the GTA, Brother is a film that can either reflect our upbringing or enlighten us to the immigrant experience. But for many around the world, they will recognize a life they’ve lived. This film gets a 4/5, and you can watch Brother in cinemas.

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