Brothers By Blood is a crime drama based on the 1991 Pete Dexter novel, Brotherly Love, from writer/director, Jérémie Guez, his second film following the 2018 Belgian-French thriller, A Bluebird in My Heart. It follows Peter Flood (Matthias Schoenaerts), a guy who is trying his best to distance himself from the criminal enterprises of the Irish mob in Philadelphia, which is now being led by his cousin, Michael (Joel Kinnaman), who has a habit of making bad and rushed decisions that usually end up bouncing back to him in some capacity, forcing Peter to clean up the mess and help keep the peace with the Italians.
Throughout the film, we get flashbacks to Peter’s childhood, which continues to haunt him due to the trauma of witnessing the death of his sister, who got hit by a car in front of them. Not only does he have that to deal with, but his mother soon passes, and his father, Charley (Ryan Phillippe), wanting to retaliate against the neighbor who killed his daughter, a neighbor who just happened to be with the Italians. His father’s anger gets the best of him, and it resulted in Peter being taken by his uncle Phil (Felix Scott), and being raised with his cousin, Michael.
The film is at its heart, a gangster movie, and it’s a gangster movie in the very classic sense, before films like The Godfather or Goodfellas and such, like some long lost Humphrey Bogart movie from the 30s. It’s a story about hapless characters and how their lives are changed and affected by the choices they make, and the world around them that seems to encourage them to lean on their worst instincts. This is not a film concerned with action, with almost all the violent moments kept off-screen except for a single act in the end that is fairly tame, yet incredibly impactful.
The basic story is not the most original or groundbreaking, but it’s serves its purpose, especially in giving its cast some solid material to work with. Matthias Schoenaerts has always been a reliable performer, and here, he plays one of my favorite types of characters – the put upon guy who is absolutely tired of dealing with everyone’s nonsense, but forces himself to get involved. In the case of Peter, it’s the sense of obligation that he has to help his cousin because they are blood, and no matter how often he is angered and disappointed by Michael, he keeps hoping he would change.
Joel Kinnaman plays a nasty SOB, the kind of character you love to hate. Kinnaman is doing great work here, and it’s definitely one of the better performances I’ve seen from him, much better than that weird, short-lived period where he was being pushed as the leading man type. Other players like Ryan Phillippe, Felix Scott do good work here as well, I want to also give a shout out to Nicholas Crovetti, who played young Peter. Maika Monroe, who shows up as someone connected to a guy who gets on Michael’s bad side, and serves as a sort of love interest for Peter, sadly doesn’t get much to do, and her talents felt wasted.
Brothers By Blood is an engaging slow burn that is carried by a weary yet engrossing performance from Matthias Schoenaerts. Jérémie Guez crafts a gritty and grounded aesthetic that allows cinematographer, Menno Mans, to capture the streets of Philly with authenticity, at least, that’s how it came across to me. The score from Séverin Favriau doesn’t come up often, but when it does, it adds to the bleak and dark atmosphere. It’s a well made film, and it definitely shows promise for Guez as a storyteller. While it may not be a great film, it was one that I did enjoy as I was watching it unfold, and fans of crime stories that are more character focused than sensationalized will find this appealing.
Brothers By Blood will open in select theaters and VOD platforms on January 22nd.