My Brother the Devil
Paladin (II) | Release Date: March 22, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 21, 2013
Nuances of faith, politics and sexual identity enrich what initially presents as a classic good son-bad son tale. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMar 19, 2013
Despite its moral seriousness, the film's a crowd-pleaser, boasting tense set pieces, a raucous polyglot of voices and accents, beauty-in-poverty streetscapes, and two warm, brawling, big-hearted leads. Read full review
80
Variety John AndersonMar 18, 2013
An energetic and imaginative tale of siblings at a criminal crossroads and a street movie that is imaginatively, even poetically, shot, the pic nonetheless remains rooted in the turmoil of an immigrant British demimonde. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 18, 2013
While on the surface, this is a variation on boyz-in-the-‘hood dramatic staples, the film is rooted in anglicized Arab culture yet universally accessible in its reflections on identity issues. It’s a very promising debut – slick, muscular, entertaining and emotionally satisfying. Read full review
80
Total FilmSimon KinnearMar 18, 2013
What distinguishes My Brother The Devil is El Hosaini’s maturity in avoiding faux-doc grittiness, political grandstanding or flashy glorification in favour of an intimate, closely observed character piece. Read full review
80
EmpireGuy LodgeMar 18, 2013
Already a compelling gangland saga, this vastly promising debut turns into something more surprising when social prejudice becomes the characters’ weapon of choice. If that sounds too much like a lecture, El Hosaini’s voice remains crisp, cool and consistently street-smart. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 18, 2013
It's an athletic, loose-limbed piece of movie-making, not perfect, but bursting with energy and adrenaline. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedMar 19, 2013
It’s far superior to what usually comes out of the British slums in the genre of gangland thrillers. Read full review
70
NPRMark JenkinsMar 21, 2013
Shot entirely in Hackney — a mostly ungentrified London borough — My Brother the Devil has a strong odor of authenticity. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 20, 2013
Director Sally El Hosaini, who also wrote the screenplay, proves better at introducing dilemmas for her characters than at resolving them. Read full review
63
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeMar 22, 2013
The plot doesn’t entirely escape formula, and the ending is jagged and forced, unable to commit to either hope or gloom. But for at least part of its length, My Brother the Devil brings refreshing changes to a genre badly in need of them. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneMar 22, 2013
With My Brother the Devil, writer-director Sally El Hosaini tells a story both operatic in its implications and quotidian in its sensory, day-to-day details. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenApr 4, 2013
My Brother the Devil is a promising debut that marks El Hosaini as a filmmaker to watch, but one still very much in the developmental stages. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid FearMar 19, 2013
Even those who aren’t well-versed in the-’hood-always-wins dramas can see what’s coming. So it’s to newcomer Sally El Hosaini’s credit that she embeds a tangible, lived-in sense of the region’s diaspora community and urban criminal underbelly (wagwan, near-indecipherable East End patois!) that’s leagues away from anthropological fetishizing. Read full review
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