Starring: James Floyd, Fady Elsayed, , Said Taghmaoui
Director: Sally El Hosaini
Two Brothers growing up on the streets of , Rashid(James Floyd) is entrenched in a street gang and wants more for his little brother Mo(Fady Elsayed), while Mo idolizes his big brother and wants to follow in his footsteps.
My Brother the Devil is the singular vision of first time writer and director Sally El Hosaini who spent five years creating the film taking full advantage of 3 Sundance Institute Labs (Middle Eastern, Screenwriting and Directing) to create the film as well as launched the film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. While initially one might think that a film that focuses on Gang activity in Hackney might be an odd choice for a female debut, this is really just the basis to examine the relationship between Mo and Rashid.
While the film is strongly acted and succeeds in diving into the relationship between the two brothers and their prejudices it’s a bit disjointed at times. The crux of the story takes far too long to get too and feels completely out of place. The relationship between Said(Said Taghmaoui) and Rashid has very little build up and feels like it’s strictly a plot device to drive the brothers apart while The gang activity is forced as well, seeming to strictly counterbalance the earlier actions and bring the brothers back together. More attention should have been delivered to either the relationship or the gang activity, as it stands there is not enough focus on either, with no real resolution given to both subplots. Not a Romance, Not a Gangster Film, Not sure what it wants to be. Shortcomings aside it is a promising debut from a first time director who was able to get great performances from her cast.
Grade – 78
