71
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt's an athletic, loose-limbed piece of movie-making, not perfect, but bursting with energy and adrenaline.
- 80EmpireEmpireAlready 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.
- 80Total FilmSimon KinnearTotal FilmSimon KinnearWhat distinguishes My Brother The Devil is El Hosaini’s maturity in avoiding faux-doc grittiness, political grandstanding or flashy glorification in favour of an intimate, closely observed character piece.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyWhile on the surface, this is a variation on boyz-in-the-‘hood dramatic staples, the film is rooted in anglicized Arab culture yet universally accessible in its reflections on identity issues. It’s a very promising debut – slick, muscular, entertaining and emotionally satisfying.
- 80Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDespite its moral seriousness, the film's a crowd-pleaser, boasting tense set pieces, a raucous polyglot of voices and accents, beauty-in-poverty streetscapes, and two warm, brawling, big-hearted leads.
- 70NPRMark JenkinsNPRMark JenkinsShot entirely in Hackney — a mostly ungentrified London borough — My Brother the Devil has a strong odor of authenticity.
- 67The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloDirector Sally El Hosaini, who also wrote the screenplay, proves better at introducing dilemmas for her characters than at resolving them.
- 60Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearEven those who aren’t well-versed in the-’hood-always-wins dramas can see what’s coming. So it’s to newcomer Sally El Hosaini’s credit that she embeds a tangible, lived-in sense of the region’s diaspora community and urban criminal underbelly (wagwan, near-indecipherable East End patois!) that’s leagues away from anthropological fetishizing.