Brother

I thought the Canadian Screen Awards would have a clear winner this year with "Riceboy Sleeps," but then I watched "Brother;" the new film co-written and directed by Clement Virgo. Here we have another immigrant story of a single mother, this time raising two boys in Scarborough in the 90s while she works full time; even doing late night shifts, leaving the boys alone - we do what we need to do. "Brother" is also about the relationship between older, confident, handsome, and charming, Francis (Aaron Pierre) and his younger, shy, timid brother, Michael (Lamar Johnson). Francis leads his brother into dangerous situations (climbing electric towers, leaving their apartment at night while their mother is working, etc.) but also gets him out of them (thwarting bullies, thwarting physical attacks, etc.). We know from the outset that something bad has happened to Francis and the film's journey is one of discovery (what happened?) and one of mourning and grief. "Brother" is also about being black and growing up on the tough streets of Scarborough. The film switches back and forth from different timelines, moving from childhood to adolescence, to post-Francis with surprising coherence and ease. "John Wick" can fire off thousands of bullets and nobody cares about a single one.  When "Brother" fires off a weapon, the impact of each shot is felt and noticed like somebody dropped a piano out a three story window. Catch one of the best Canadian films of the year in theatres now.