A simple but enjoyable healing flick
My Brother, My Sister is a pretty enjoyable movie, depicting a broken family that slowly heal old wounds that been left to foster. While the story is quite predictable, decent acting and evolving characterization are enough to elevate this one. However, the middle act does tend to wear on for a little too long, and one can’t help but feel this could have easily cut around 20 minutes out the film. The story opens with a funeral. Patriarch Giulio Costa has passed away and his two children, Nikola and Tesla, are not on speaking terms. When Nik shows up at the funeral looking nonchalant and talking about space and time, it only causes larger rifts to grow between the siblings. However, they soon learn that Giulio has left his house for them both to share. What follows is your typical out-of-your-comfort-zone drama, with control-freak Tesla struggling to deal with Nik’s carefree attitude. As the movie progresses, it soon becomes clear that Tesla’s two children, Sebastiano and Carolina, are the key to unlocking the stubbornness these two are feeling. The former has been diagnosed with schizophrenia while Caro is desperate to leave her mother’s suffocating, dominating grip. And she gets that opportunity when Giulio leaves her his camper van. This is your typical story about healing and acceptance, something My Brother, My Sister does pretty well with, albeit in a very predictable way that leaves no surprises over the outcome. In fact, the only surprising element is a last-minute twist that bizarrely comes out of left-field and doesn’t really fit with the theme of the movie. No spoilers of course but it’s certainly an odd choice. Despite that though, Nik and Tesla’s relationship is compelling to watch. Their numerous spats across the film are well written. Across the movie they both learn from one another and grow into much better versions of themselves, and that’s partly the allure here. There are the usual hiccups and a couple of secrets hidden by both, but the feel-good factor this film gives off by the end is a definite highlight. While it’s not likely to ignite the big screen any time soon, My Brother, My Sister is an enjoyable drama nonetheless. This is a simple film about healing, with a family finding common ground and going through the motions to come out the other side better and stronger than before. We’ve seen this a million time before, but My Brother, My Sister does just enough to make it worth a watch. Read More: My Brother, My Sister Ending Explained
