My Brother the Devil

My Brother the Devil is the spellbinding film by filmmaker Sally El Hosaini. For her first full length feature film she has created one breathtaking film. This film touches on almost every subject matter that the inner city deals with and it does so on a visceral level. To me, there is one flaw in the film but it's so minute and overshadowed by the rest of the film that I have decided to look past it. For that, I give My Brother the Devil three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.




My Brother the Devil is a tale set in the hoods of London. It's a tale about two brothers who love each other very much. The older brothers name is Rash, short for Rashid and he's played the talented James Floyd (who should soon be a household name), and his younger brother Mo is played by newcomer Fady Elsayed who was one amazing find. Fady is riveting on the screen as the hungry for the love of his older brother teenager. Mo follows his brother around like a puppy, nipping at his heels, wanting to be just like him. That is something Rash doesn't want in any way, shape, or form because Rash doesn't want his younger brother mixed up in the dirt he currently involved in. Rash is part of a gang, the DMG which stands for drugs, money, guns and when you're part of the gang, you get tattooed with those letters somewhere on your body. Rash buys into DMG so hard that his tattoo is right over his heart.


The movie opens up with Rash at the boxing gym putting in work on the heavy bag while Mo pedals to the gym so the two of them can go home  together. After some horsing around, Rash asks his brother about his grades and when satisfied with what he hears, he tells his younger brother he has something for him. Rash and his best friend Izzy, played by Anthony Welsh bring in a flat screen TV for Mo. The brothers father, played by Nasser Memarzia immediately wants to know where the money came from for the TV which prompts Rash to remove it from the house, but before they can poppa indicates under his breathe that he's tired of his son hanging out with Black guys. With Izzy being Black, that just ratchets up the tension in the household but Izzy takes it in stride. He understands Rash's dad is from the old school even though the father is basically Black himself as the family hails from Egypt. Sally's film making puts you right in the middle of the conflict. The camera never turns away, you as the viewer never get any rest, she keeps you riveted.


One morning Mo watched Rash go into his mothers purse and pulls out her wallet. Instead of him taking money out though, Rash slips money in and then goes to kiss her good morning. Mo smiles at that and it's that moment that strengthens his desire to be just like his older brother. DMG has a rival gang headed by someone named Demon and it's during a conflict at the neighborhood grocery store when things come to a head. The violence is brutal and shocking and it makes Rash reassess his life. He finally comes to see that he can't be running the streets for the rest of his life, that he needs to find a way out, that he needs to get a job. Enter Sayyid played by the freakishly talented Said Taghmoui. Sayyid is introduced to Rash through Izzy who was one of the gangs customers. Rash eventually started supplying the professional photographer and the two men struck up a friendship. When Rash reveals he needs a job, Sayyid tells Rash he could work for him.

While working for Sayyid keeps Rash out of the hood, Mo decides to fill his big brothers shoes with the gang and his family. He starts to sell drugs and earn his own money and puts almost a fistful of bills in his mothers wallet. Rash finds out and the two brothers get into it and it's after that conflict that Mo follows Rash to where he spends most his days and finds out his big brother is having a romance with Sayyid. What happens from then on pushes the movie towards a climax where the energy crackles off the screen, so much so that I can't remember what the music was even like, I know, I know...I'm surprised by that just as much as you are. Sally demonstrates so vividly that those friends that call you "fam" and "cuz" can quickly become your sworn enemies the very next minute they perceive you stepping out of the line they feel you should be walking.

My Brother the Devil is worth seeing, you will NOT be sorry. Though there may be times where the accents will have some dialogue flying right over your head, you won't mind it because you eventually get the gist. Buy your ticket, wait in line, and I may be either right in front of you or behind you, either way I will see you at the theater!