My Brother The Devil is a film about a drug gang, but it’s a far cry from any gangster film you’ve ever seen.

Set on a council estate on the deprived area of Hackney in East London, Rashid and Mo are brothers who share a cramped bedroom in their parents very small flat. Their father is a bus driver, and the parents find it hard to make ends meet. The older brother, Rashid is in a gang. It’s a small-time gang, we’re not talking mafia proportions here, there’s perhaps ten people who make their money selling drugs. And of course, with every gang comes gang warfare. This is evidenced pretty early on in the film with a tragic event.

The event leads Rashid to question his involvement; all he really wants is to be able to give his parents enough money to live (he has an endearing habit of sneaking money into his mother’s purse) and to put his brother, Mo, through college. We can only speculate that this is not the life Rashid ever wished to live; it happened through necessity.

Being the impressionable young teenager that he is, younger brother Mo of course finds Rashid’s gang-mates as admirable as he finds his brother. He looks up to them all, so it’s only natural that he wants to be part of it.

This is what makes the film stand out from any other gang film I’ve ever seen: whilst there is, without a doubt, gritty realism and evidence of the peer pressure and the brutality of gang culture, the film is about so much more than that. There is a large focus on the relationship between the brothers, there’s enough of an insight into their relationship with their parents to allow the viewer to develop sympathy for all involved, there’s an unexpected twist late in the film that changes the dynamic of so, so much, and it is also shot BEAUTIFULLY. Really beautifully.

Now, this may not be a popular opinion but I’m going to say it anyway. This is where 12 Years A Slave fails and this film wins. In this film, there is so much character development that you really feel pained for them, you’re empathetic, you’re on the edge of your seat. But in amongst the dialogue and drama – and – most appropriately – in the RIGHT PLACES – there is absolutely stunning cinematography, and it is of the right length; it doesn’t make you wonder what on earth that long beautiful shot is doing there, it compliments the dialogue and adds a dimension of beauty towards an otherwise generally shitty situation. 12 Years fails on this front – the shots are in inappropriate places, too drawn out or too inappropriate to fit into the film without grating and making the viewer wonder what on earth they are doing there, other than of course knowing that the Director is a Turner winning artist and therefore likes fancy stuff. I like fancy stuff too, but if you chop it into scenes that I find inappropriate, I am not going to have a good time.

The actors did a great job in this film; the stand-out performance for me was from Fadi Elsayed who plays the younger brother Mo, but I’d also like to give credit to the majority of the supporting cast, which includes some of the extras who didn’t even have lines. They nailed the right stance, the right facial expressions, and absolutely everything I’d expect to see. I’m pleased to see on IMDB that Elsayed has recently appeared in two episodes of the British crime TV series Silent Witness, and I will eagerly be looking them up. He is a talent to keep a close eye on.

Finally, I should add that Sally El Hosaini wrote and directed the film, but this is her first feature length film after previously doing a few shorts. I commend this lady and I will also be paying close attention to her.

IMBD: 6.5. Me: 8.5.