Sgt_Pepper1102 Review of Brother's Keeper

Brother's Keeper (2021)

It has some interesting elements, but it doesn't work completely

[6/10 · 3 March 2023]

The photography is pretty good in general, but I didn't like the use of so many shots in each scene, it just felt messy. The acting is also good, but the script is weak, especially the dialogues. I feel the plot needed a lot more weight. The sickness of the kid doesn't seem bad enough to push the whole story. I mean, we don't see the kid in much pain, he's just asleep and really pale. I think the director focuses too much on the bureaucracy and corruption of the place instead of the humanity there. There's no character development at all, we never find out anything about them and this is crucial when it comes to the relationship between the two kids since it's not clear how much the protagonist cares for his friend or how close they really are. There are always distractions that instead of telling us more about the place or the people there, they just drag the story and keep showing us the negligence of these adults who are supposed to take care of the kids. I don't question the veracity of their negligence, but it was a little hard to believe that even when three or four adults finally start caring about the sick kid none of them checked his body or vitals and all of them repeated he just didn't have a fever. It drove me nuts to hear this like five times. I mean, if someone is really unconscious you try a little harder to make him react. I think the movie needed more characters and points of view to really cover everything the director wanted in a more organic way. I'm sure there are many real stories like this one, and even worse, all over the world, some even include more violence and sexual abuse, but the way it's told and put together just doesn't seem realistic. During the last part of the movie things get better, but I felt they were not very coherent with the early part of the story, especially the protagonist's attitude since he seemed to hate and blame everyone for his friend's situation and the plot twist just felt forced. It was only interesting in the sense that it makes you think it was his fault, but you know the adults are really responsible.