Taking a topic very much in vogue, thanks to Noel Clarke’s treatment of inner city London and all its lawless adolescent trimmings, first-time filmmaker Sally El Hosaini has fashioned a gritty depiction of dangerous games played by two members of an Egyptian family living on a Hackney housing estate in MY BROTHER THE DEVIL. Although the first-time director often lapses into genre conventions, Hosaini offers a knowledgeable handling of the film’s central thematic concerns, whilst defying expectation with his narrative structure.

Hosaini offers a knowledgeable handling of the film’s central thematic concerns, whilst defying expectation with his narrative structure.

Fady Elsayed plays Mo, an intelligent 14-year-old student who idolises his brother Rashid (a superb James Floyd), holding him in incredibly high regard despite his affiliations with a local gang of thugs and drug pushers. As Rashid slowly begins to realise that he wants more from life than illegal and sometimes brutal activities, he starts navigating towards a more honest means of money making. However, Mo is fast becoming enamoured with the flashy lifestyle his brother is now rejecting: a lifestyle built on physical and moral militarisation. Looking to fund his beloved  – though increasingly wayward – brother’s college education, Rashid learns that the secrets he keeps to ensure a better future may cause dangerous ripples in an already turbulent pool of deceit and corruption.

MY BROTHER THE DEVIL has as its core a strong understanding of the relationship shared between two disparate brothers.

Bolstered by a duo of believable performances, MY BROTHER THE DEVIL has as its core a strong understanding of the relationship shared between two disparate brothers. An abundance of turbulent and gripping sequences tracks the rapport between the two siblings as it slowly turns into a treacherous form of rivalry. A shaky opening leads the film into familiar territory (sharing elements with Noel Clarke’s aforementioned KIDULTHOOD and ADULTHOOD), yet once the unexpected turn of events are set in motion, Hosaini’s confident debut takes original and tactful steps in the right direction, no matter how neatly she ties up the increasingly frayed edges in the finale.

MY BROTHER THE DEVIL is vying in the First Feature Competition category at the BFI London Film Festival.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZjXLaDbU8A