Do I Need To? It did take two sittings for me to get through this, the beginning felt like a lot of scene-setting, not all of which was compelling or necessary to the story line. Some of the acting felt a bit wooden. A lot of the side-characters were very forgettable. Mo's friendship with Aisha didn't really go anywhere. Wish that Rash and Sayyid's relationship, which was suddenly introduced out of *nowhere*, could have been explored more. And for god's sake, is it possible for people to actually say the word *bisexual*? Others have been saying that this is about a gay brother, when it is never said that he doesn't still love Vanessa. And the fact that their sex was not 100% consensual should have been addressed more. There were just a lot of stereotypes which were played into. A few plot holes such as what happened after Izzi's murder? No investigation? No living in constant fear that the police will rock up at your door? No CCTV that would have caught them? None of the characters seemed desperately sad that someone had died. Despite all these issues, I didn't dislike it. There were parts which were dramatic and tense. Also, why do films insist on being filmed in the dark, I know it's atmospheric, but god is it difficult to watch.

Leofwine_draca MY BROTHER THE DEVIL has quite a lot of quality for a low budget, shot-on-the-streets type of British youth film. It tells the story of a couple of Arab kids growing up on the mean streets of Hackney, where they must intermingle with drug gangs and adult life in a bid to make something of their lives - or merely survive.Unfortunately for me, I've seen all this sort of thing before in the likes of Noel Clarke's KIDULTHOOD and ADULTHOOD, plus the wave of films along the same line that have been made over the past decade, and MY BROTHER THE DEVIL doesn't really have much more to say on the subject, other than to make a point of how ridiculous, violent, and difficult it all is. Director Sally El Hosaini elicits some strong performances from her young, unknown cast members, and the film is certainly watchable from beginning to end. But it's too familiar and fatalistic to have much of an impact on this viewer.

elliotte2 There is a lot more to this movie than the title/synopsis tells.Very well directed, but the consistent high acting from everyone especially the teenagers, is amazing. The character development(and changes) catches you off guard....in a good way.It is advertised as two brothers on the streets of London, but it is really a coming-of-age story about how environment/people influence what we are and what we do. It is a slow-moving movie, so do not expect 'Gangs of New York' or some type of gangster action movie. This movie is for those that enjoy a good drama that you can remember after watching it.Recommended those like good old fashion movie-making, without the CGI, high body count or overpriced actors who can't act.

Rich Wright There is a sequence in this movie, where one of the two main protagonists finds out he's gay, which made me laugh longer and harder than almost anything else this year. He has this arty friend, ya see (how original), and he ends accidentally kissing him while playfighting over a camera. After initially lashing out at the guy and denying it meant anything, not to mention a trip to his girlfriend's house for a rather uncomfortable sex session to 'straighten him out', he realises he just MAY be a 'battyboy' after all. So, back he goes to his mate's studio, where they proceed to do the dirty deed. All of this arrives out of nowhere, and almost leads me to believe it was inserted into the film by Stonewall campaigners who want the yoof of today to be less homophobic. The only problem is, the whole chain of events is so random and forced, it loses whatever credibility it might have had with the target audience.But that's the fault which brings down the film in a nutshell... Conflicts are too easily resolved, people change their mind without any motivation and stereotyping is rife. Everything feels half baked, as if there's a lot of wires here where someone forgot to connect A to B, C to D... and so on. I was not convinced by anyone here due to this, so found it impossible to give two hoots as they went about their uninteresting business. A far better demonstration of this lifestyle can be found in the recent Channel 4 series Top Boy, which is an uncompromising look at life in a council estate with a drug gang hierarchy. It has nary a cliché in sight, and doesn't seek to appeal to minority groups in unbelievably clumsy ways either... 4/10