Brother

When your own father refuses to step up to the plate, sometimes brothers are each other’s father. In this stirring drama set in ‘90s Toronto locked to the sounds of hip hop, two brothers Michael (Lamar Johnson) and Francis (Aaron Pierre) are trying to work out how to find their place in a world that has many sharp edges. When we flash forward ten years, the family has reconfigured itself and Michael has to learn to live in the long shadow of grief.

Reminiscent of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight for its rare tenderness and sensitivity to young black men’s struggle, Brother is one of the year’s best debuts, rich with period detail and beauty amidst tragedy.