One doesn't need a PhD to predict negative consequences when some college frat boys pressurize a fraternity applicant to carry out a convenience store robbery as part of their induction process. Needless to say, the hold-up is less than a complete success, and "Brotherhood" finds itself in similar territory to "Very Bad Things" as the fall-out from this reckless prank spirals disastrously out of control during the course of a long night. Each proposed remedy pushes a bad situation further into the catastrophe zone, and the bonds of this intelligence-challenged brotherhood soon start disintegrating under the strain of the situation. The growing crisis is laced with moments of high tension and dark comedy, but unfortunately any audience sympathy for these unpleasant frat boys is diluted by their misogyny, racism, selfishness and stupidity. The film boasts some excellent cinematography and solid acting performances from the cast, but its principal drawback is the relentless frenzied tempo combined with a lack of variation in emotional pitch - a roller-coaster ride in a perpetual state of near-hysteria eventually becomes somewhat exhausting.
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tigerfish5015 October 2010
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Simonster29 March 2011Viewed at the Festival de Cannes 2010
The fraternity (and sorority) system is something very peculiar to US colleges, but thanks to films such as Animal House people in other countries now have a very good idea how things work: all beer, parties and panty raids right? Not quite! Because Brotherhood takes the concept of initiation rites and works it into a very taut thriller about power and abuse and how far would you be willing to go to protect your fellows as opposed to doing the right thing.
Not wishing to give anything away (I don't write spoilers, even intentionally), what starts out as a prank, robbing a convenience store, spirals out of control as every attempt to put right the wrong just makes things worse. Pretty soon, to misquote Macbeth, those involved are now so deep in the brown and red stuff that turning back is no longer an option.
The kicker at the end, by the way, is excellent. -
everyfilmin20116 January 2011So, with limited preparation (I had no idea what the film was about) I set about this American fraternity thriller. And, I have to say, it wasn't bad at all. The opening scenes are in the back of a van where three teenagers are being yelled at by one of their peers who then charges off, gun in hand, claiming he is going to rob a convenience store. He reappears seconds later to tell the trio they have to follow suit if they are to be accepted into a sought-after university fraternity. It quickly transpires that the initiation ceremony is a fake and, before each individual gets to the door of their respective stores, they are stopped by a fellow frat man who gives them the cash they have been instructed to rob, to make it look as if they have been successful. Unfortunately, he is not there when the last of the three , Kevin, (Lou Taylor Pucci) goes off to do his robbery and, therefore, Kevin tries to carry it out. However, things start to unravel pretty quickly. Kevin is shot in the shoulder by the shop assistant who refuses to believe he is not being properly held up until the concept is beaten into him by Kevin's friend Adam (Trevor Morgan) and Frank (Jon Foster), the teenager who had been giving the dummy instructions on the hold-up. Frank, fearing that the police would not understand the hold-up had been a prank, insists that Kevin, despite bleeding heavily is taken back to the frat house and the emergency services are not called. This begins a sequence of dramatic events in which just about everything transpires against a successful outcome for the group. All of the time, Adam is fearing for Kevin's life and is desperately pleading with Frank to take him to hospital. As sparring takes places over the decision, the dynamics of power and peer pressure are put acutely under the microscope of director Will Canon. Canon's movie is low budget but he builds up tension and develops characters well and, in less than 80 minutes, ratchets up considerable tension.
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gilligan-1125 September 2011As a depiction of the absurdity of fraternity life and the misguided "brotherhood" that often dominates the thinking of fraternity members, this film paints a grim picture of the multiple ways that hazing can go wrong. What begins as an absolutely ridiculous prank leads to an unlikely series of poor judgments and unfortunate events—arrogance and racism seem to be the principles that guide the fraternity members' sense of "brotherhood." One of the brothers (whose name I couldn't tell you, since the characters are all so flat and indistinct) actually has a sense of morality and fights his peers in an effort to do the right thing, but he is—of course—over-ruled. The story is mildly engaging, and numerous conflicts develop throughout the course of the film, but the distinguishing features of this film are desperation and an overabundance of fraternity guys shouting at each other in anger and fear. A more experienced and skilled screenwriter could have turned this raw story into something quite good.
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weemonk19 January 2011Although depressing, I quite like films like this where one action taken leads to a downward spiral of doom as a situation continues to get worse - ala Very Bad Things or Before The Devil Knows You're Dead.
Brotherhood is in the same vein as the aforementioned films (though not as harsh) as we follow the exploits of a group of frat house students and pledges who's night takes a turn for the worse when a convenience store hold up prank goes wrong.
The story unfolds and the viewer watches as the characters continue to make bad decisions, digging a deeper hole for the situation they are in. If done right, this type of film can take you on a ride where you feel involved as you think to yourself 'but I'd do that', 'If only they'd done....'. Plausability always plays a big part and although some of the decisions made by Adam and the others are just plain stupid, it plays out well without going silly.
There were some believable performances and good acting all round. The film wasn't quite as tense nor dark dark as it could have possibly been for the story type but it was entertaining enough. I was impressed with the side track revelation near the end of the film which relates to something you will have forgotten all about by the end of the film (not giving anything away). Nice touch.
Brotherhood is worth a watch. It has a short running time and would make for a good rental. -
leagueprez28 February 2011We stumbled upon Brotherhood online, the tag-line looked interesting so we set out for Hollywood to catch a matinée showing on it's opening weekend. Just before it rolled a gentleman poked his head into the theater and thanked us for coming and asked that if we enjoyed Brotherhood could we please tell friends and family. It turned out the young man was Will Canon, the Director of Brotherhood. We had a nice chat and then it rolled. I really enjoyed the pace of the film, it started early and kept up throughout the story. Very believable, you can totally picture a frat initiation like this and their reactions to it. "We have to stick together and get our stories straight". The performances were strong, I remember Trevor Morgan from past roles although he is grown up and I appreciated his loyalty in the film. Mr. Foster was good as well, intense as he tries to keep it together. We enjoyed Brotherhood, intense, well paced and intriguing until the end. Nice work Will and we are telling our friends,
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OJT17 February 2014I've always found the extreme American fraternity rules sickening, and this premise is taken to the extreme here. The film is about fraternity ideas gone all wrong, and the following bad choices made. Well, is this what happens when police is your worst "enemy"?
A fraternity idea of making fake robberies of gas stations goes wrong when they go to the wrong gas station. There's a shootout, and much more I'm not willing to say.
Directed by Will Canon, the film sets up an interesting premise, and quite effective acting by the youngsters, though the whole are put to some kind of extreme, it's interesting and exciting to watch. It forces you to participate and gets you occupied. Of course it's far fetched, and there's so many insane decisions, but still it makes out an interesting premise, when bad leadership and idiots mix up.
It's a film high on tension and action, and there's a nest fun coming up all the time. It's not a pleasant watch, by no means. Rather unpleasant in all ways, but it keeps you seated. Forget the believability, just be along for the ride! Talented film making from those involved. -
Sainte-Lucifer5 September 2011There may be spoilers, but the movie still sucks.
I don't really know where to begin because I refuse to normally write a review. This movie is beyond stupid. First, we have a group of frat guys hazing the pledges, led by Frank, a dimwit of a fellow who does absolutely everything wrong just because. The pledges are told they must commit a convenience store robbery to become members, but that by doing so does not grant them the opportunity in the fraternity. So essentially, they are asked to commit a felony for no reason other than to satisfy the twisted desires of adolescents.
If you can manage, by some miraculous feat, to actually look past how stupid this sounds then wait until it really gets going. Oh, just to be sure, the acting isn't half bad, if you consider yelling at everyone throughout the entire film acting. What I don't understand is why they would let their friend sit on his death bed while they convened to figure a way out of the mess. If my friend was shot in a fake robbery I would immediately take him to the hospital, without hesitation. How stupid can someone be? I have been shot before, right in the bladder, so I can presume to appreciate the importance of quick medical attention.
The idea for the movie was alright, I just wish the frat guys had some common sense, I honestly don't understand how they are even in college, or how they made it out of high school. Common sense would have saved them all a lot of trouble, but they were so naive and gullible in their own beliefs and lack of morals that they deceived themselves throughout the whole film. I must say it was funny to watch how things unfolded, but I kept reading my book and turning away from my laptop because it is just one ludicrous decision after another, over and over.
The movie has to be a joke to my intelligence because this is nowhere near good, nowhere near worthwhile. It is a waste of time and that is what I used it for, to kill time since I was unable to sleep. If you are in the same spot as I saw myself there are much better films out there that are available to waste some time with. Dragonball Evolution was better than this. -
Movie_Reviewer_from_LA28 February 2011The film "Brotherhood" is actually a litmus test for your ability to connect with today's college experience. If you are in touch with today's typical college fraternity/sorority lifestyle, you will likely think this film is excellent. If you are mostly out of touch, you will not likely connect to this film. Originally I rated this film 8 out of ten, but I changed it to 9 out of 10, simply because of the performances given by this film's rising stars, but I will get into that later.
If you consider yourself "middle of the road" when it comes to understanding college social scenes, see how you feel about this movie - it may help you decide how well you understand college life today, if you were asked this same question.
From what I can tell, the story is indeed fictional but based on real experiences and 'folk lore' or 'urban legends' of college life. Although I am not going to go into specific plot details, it is generally well-crafted and fun to watch.
From my previous movie reviews, I have a keen eye for performance. What stood out to me was the girl that came looking for her 'personal belongings' halfway through the story. At first glance, I was sure I had seen her in other movies, but I couldn't recall where. My trusty IMDb iphone app identified her to be Jennifer Sipes. This actress made the movie for me. If you do get a chance to see this film in theaters, her performance alone is worth the price of admission. There is something that really shines bright with her. Lou Taylor Pucci also does a very very good job. I was lucky enough to see "The Music Never Stopped" at Sundance and I think his performance in Brotherhood is at the same level. Jon Foster comes through as well, although his strength as an actor did not shine as bright as Jennifer Sipes and Lou Taylor Pucci. I don't blame Jon Foster, this is a small indie film, and he sometimes stumbles a little with delivery, slightly depreciating his performance, but I suspect this was due to a very compacted shooting schedule. I eagerly anticipate Jon's future performances in big budget studio films, because I think with a proper shooting schedule, he will really take off. Trevor Morgan to me was just OK. Unfortunately I could see him 'acting' at certain points. If you see this film on the big screen, you will see Pucci dominate Morgan in scenes that the two are in (from a purely acting perspective). Once again, I think Trevor Morgan had a tough job in this film, thus making it more difficult to perform with a short shooting cycle. Nonetheless, he is responsible for his screen presence, and he didn't meet my expectations. The scenes that Trevor Morgan and Arlen Escarpeta square off are the slowest of the film, and in my opinion, should be left out. It simply doesn't work as intended.
In summary, I would recommend this film. It rides along at a fast pace, comparable to a typical 'night-gone-wrong' thriller. Overall performances are good, but look for Lou Taylor Pucci and even more so Jennifer Sipes - Two actors with a very bright future. Jon Foster is close behind, and also has a big career ahead of him. I will give fair warning that you may find this film really, really, irritating if you are not connected to college life today, but if you are, you will associate well to the language, the pranks/initiations, and the race relations, all realistic and decently put together. What really separates this film from other indies in this genre is the acting. If for nothing else, see it for some inspiring performances by Hollywood's future stars. -
Theo Robertson17 May 2015Kevin wants to join the in crowd of college so it's arranged that he and his friends have to rob convenience stores in order to be accepted . As it turns out the robberies are merely staged pranks . Unfortunately for Kevin and his peers a set of circumstances end up with Kevin being seriously injured and the rest of the group facing serious problems
An independent thriller and one that often hits the target - until you stop to think about things of course . From the outset I found it puzzling why individuals had second thoughts about robbing stores . Wouldn't they have thought about that before being driven along a road ? But I guess that's the same thing with a massive number of films where the audience aren't supposed to examine the unseen events leading up to the opening scene of a movie . It also seems a bit extreme for armed robbery to part of frat high jinx but very quickly before the opening credits appear this is explained as being a prank from then on we've got a RESERVOIR DOGS type of story with a wounded man and his friends wondering how they're going to escape from their self inflicted predicament
Thankfully the audience are spared any type of Tarantino post modernist homage and the narrative is full of tense moments but BROTHERHOOD isn't entirely successful due to contrived storytelling . Now it doesn't suffer from "An idiot plot" where the film would instantly stop if someone did something sensible but something has to happen in order to push the story regardless of it being entirely realistic . For example it just happens to be revealed that someone recognises the counter assistant in the robbed store and the rest of the film continues in the same way . Turn off your brain and you might enjoy it -
jcroft-419-4030989 July 2012I made an account for the sole purpose of writing a review of how awful this movie is. If you enjoy watching the most unbelievably idiotic people, storyline, and sequence of events this movie is for you. Not a single scene goes by that I am not taken aback by how ridiculous and terrible this movie is. Even if you want to say people in fraternities or sororities can be that stupid, the people in the other scenes are just as ridiculous. There was only one scene of this movie I was mildly impressed with but I will say it was not nearly worth the wait. The only thing more disappointing than this movie is the amount of positive reviews it got. Absolutely mind blowing, literally.
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If you enjoy clever fast-paced films which showcase characters who are not overly developed, which have an excellent script and you are allured by an uncomplicated plot line, then this is an ideal movie for you to watch.
The movie commences with a group of young men being driven around in the back a red van, most of whom look petrified. One of the characters states, "Alright like I said before I wouldn't ask you pussies to do anything I wouldn't do first." The audience is then drawn into the film, wondering who these people are and what they are doing. The audience soon learns that they are members of a fraternity as well as pledges who want to join.
Those who are being initiated appear to be robbing convenience stores. They are under the impression that real robberies are being committed. In reality, when the "robber" approaches the store, he is met by a member of the fraternity who hands him money to give the impression that the "robber" was successful. They are told to ask for the amount of $19.10, the significance of which is because this is the year upon which the frat was founded. Motivated by their desire to be included, they think that they are committing criminal acts. The plan, however, falls apart when one of the pledges actually goes through with pointing a gun at the shop assistant, Mike, and gets shot.
The movie is clever and it kept me intrigued. It also left me feeling slightly frustrating. I concede it is only a movie, but reviews enable people to engage with one another and raise questions. These people have reached an age where they are able to attend university and hopefully embark upon exciting careers. Is it really worth risking a jail sentence purely to join a fraternity? They probably worked hard to get where they are and paid a huge sum of money.
I know that it is not helpful that I do not recall all of the names of the characters, but as a viewer, most people would be inclined to take the injured male to the hospital. Matters are further complicated by the frat throwing a party and the group of boys bring the injured person to the house, kicking the partygoers out of the house.
As the movie went on, my attention was captivated because I truly wanted to know what was going to happen. Other films have a tendency to leave certain storylines undeveloped or "forget" about certain characters. This movie did not make that mistake. For example, at the end of the movie, we find out what happens to the boy that who was left locked in the car during the party scene at the frat house. Furthermore, the movie does showcase that people are often left humiliated after casual sex, such as the female character who wanted her eyeglasses returned.
I agree with some of the other reviews which state that this is not your typical "frat movie." I found that the movie was interesting because it showcased how far certain people were willing to transgress the law, even by those people who are employed to enforce it. It is highly likely that most people would conclude that the gun shot wound was not the type of injury which could be fixed with a first aid kit. The fact that they gave him painkillers they found in the house did little to satiate the wounded character's high level of pain. They clearly did the wrong thing and were just making things worse. Even though what they did was wrong, it makes for excellent entertainment and I was captivated by the intensity of some of the scenes as the actors played their roles well and were very convincing.
The movie was entertaining and it is a movie that I would be willing to watch more than once. -
loyolite10 September 2011This is a very nicely done movie, which is very engaging, fast and interesting. It keeps you watching throughout the movie. While some things are predictable , many are not. I don't understand how come the rating is just around 6. It's much better than most movies you see nowadays. It's about a bunch of kids going through the induction process to get into a frat. The movie begins with one prank, which goes way off. It gets them into trouble ,and more trouble and more trouble. The best part about this movie is the way it ends. I had absolutely no idea that this is what was going to happen ! Do watch it , it's a good movie.
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njgrimal14 February 2012Although I consider myself a pretty avid movie-fan I usually don't post reviews on this website because I've never really felt compelled to do so. That being said, I caught this movie on showtime while battling a bit of insomnia and I found it so incredibly irritating that I had to publicly voice my opinion. I don't even really know where to begin, I guess what was most troubling was how incredibly unrealistic every aspect of this story is. Everything that happens in this film and everyones reactions to those happenings is simply impossible to believe. Besides that, the writing was poor and the acting was brutal (how bad was the racist kid?). It's troubling to see this movie get so high of a rating, and to think that it won an award at a legitimate film festival truly blows my mind. Even more unbelievable was the positive feedback most critics gave to this film, what did they see in this film that I wasn't able to? If you find yourself in a similar situation to me, randomly tuning into this movie at 3 AM, do yourself a favor and turn the TV off immediately, those two hours of sleep are infinitely more valuable than this piece of trash film.
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johnnyboyz5 August 2011Brotherhood is an astute; compelling; stripped down piece looking at the allure of one's need to feel superior as well as the periodic need for young men to feed their own egotisms. When a character in the film has been shot, and is taken to somebody's student accommodation so as to be treated, one of the tenants demands an onlooker heavily involved in the situation urgently do something – demands he rapidly rejects out of not wanting to look small; inferior, nor as if he takes orders, whilst in front of a handful of first-year kids he desires to look authoritarian in front of. Never mind all the alcohol, or periodic use of casual drugs if that is the case; these kids are near to the point of sheer madness and danger through being high on testosterone and arrogance. Young American filmmaker Will Canon's debut feature is a breath of fresh air; a ruby amidst the rough of the American independent scene of oft snow-set quirksome squalor and adult subject matter being distilled through a filter of mainstreamisation. Here is a film with a fair number of robbery sequences; characters charging around an intimate urban locale wielding guns as well as young men verbally clashing with one another over heated issues - and yet in spite of this, is actually about something: neither manifesting into an exploitative crime film nor descending into the doldrums of being a lecturous chore.
The film follows that of Adam, a fresher (or freshman in the set-world of America) played by Trevor Morgan, whose on the cusp of starting at a university and must undergo an immediate process in these, the dying embers of summer before the academic year begins, that'll see him inducted into the realms of a domestic fraternity. In spite of this, the film is essentially the process Adam is inclined to go through so as to reject the egotistical driven schooling-set world of showmanship; peer-pressure and the proving of one's masculinity: drinking a lot of booze and coming into possession of a firearm, albeit on separate occasions, does not make one a "man". When we begin, we begin in the confines of a van doing the rounds at a number of convenience stores; convenience stores which it would appear are being held up by a number of freshmen whose inauguration is being undertaken. But it is a sham, and where the frat-leader Frank's (Foster) excessive use of profanity in both questioning and challenging that of the other's masculinity has us question the competence of the screenwriter/director in their ability to broaden dialogue, we are swiftly put in our place thereafter when it's revealed the whole thing is a scare mongering act for the others yet to 'rob' somewhere.
Disaster strikes when one of the fraternity hopefuls does indeed hold up a store, when the collecting of a bag of money from an insider already there is what should have happened. In waiting outside the incorrect store, a fraternity member dooms Kevin (Taylor-Pucci) to being the hapless kid shot by a clerk, an event which kicks off all manner of strife for those involved and causes some serious headaches for these people early on in their scholarly life before term has even begun. In the panic, Kevin is taken the a proverbial fraternity headquarters; the large party unfolding cut short when a spiteful, narcissistic, evil individual suddenly finds himself hosting a GSW victim after having previously been limited to meticulously organising ill-judged pranks on that of people not wanting to drink the amounts of alcohol forced upon them and not wanting to have an act of sex go wrong which has been wholly planned to.
In feeding off an approach to its thesis more broadly reminiscent of Scorsese's After Hours or a vastly underrated crime thriller from a few years ago in the form of Running Scared, the film plunges its characters into a causality driven Hell where the rejection of proper authorities as well as professional medical attention forces those involved through a series of bleak night-set altercations and interactions, all the while our anchor in Adam gluing proceedings as this first-year kid daring to challenging the patriarchy. Canon does a great job in moving things along, allowing the bluntness of the opening sequences on how the fraternity operate dissolve into this unglamorous procession of lies and amorality wholly brought about by their own egomaniacal agenda; using the item of the individual bleeding to death as a wonderful device to keep tensions and deadlines heightened.
In feeding off the above approaches, the piece harks back to an era of twenty-or-so years ago when films such as Reservoir Dogs dominated the independent crime scene. Here, Kevin's blood soaked person held up in a dingy locale as those refusing to back down from one another over varying issues calls to mind that of Keitel's, Buscemi's and Penn's respective bickering as Roth lied spread eagle in the aforementioned example; while the presence of Mike (Escarpeta), the young clerk at the store, echoes that of a certain Marvin Nash as we follow his exasperated arrival in earnest via the rear of somebody's car, brought closer to the mayhem and hit upon by the crew when it's revealed he may prove a threat. Like Tarantino, Canon has made a film with a quaint ability to escalate issues and disagreements out of one routine catalyst; a thousand diamond store robberies have happened in a thousand films, likewise with a shooting that was never meant to have been, but the aftermath and the heightened tension born out of it as varying elements struggle for total control are what drives our growing interest and trepidation in both examples. Where not as good, and with the distinct sense of it being a debut feature from a filmmaker with-room-to-grow, Brotherhood more than fits the bill for what it is, in what is a gratifying observation on where the sorts of behaviour therein has one arrive. -
catalyst8-13 August 2012I find it difficult to articulate how truly awful this film is. The whole premise relies on such a staggering suspension of disbelief as to be literally incredible. The characterizations are shallow, the acting ineptly relies on constant shouting in an attempt to conjure up a semblance of emotion & drama, the direction & cinematography are very sloppy, relying heavily on irritatingly shaky hand-held camera work.
The biggest flaw however is the script; a childish, incoherently written mess with an unbelievable premise, clumsily executed.
In all this film is quite an insult since, by presenting it as a genuine narrative work, it assumes that its audience will have such a feeble intellect as to somehow miss the utter ineptitude it really is. I'm not sure if this is the worst film I've ever seen, but it's certainly the worst film I've seen this year. -
kosmasp28 December 2010I can see why you would rate this movie poor and/or better than what I gave it. It has quite a few flaws and if you sit down and think about a few situations, they are either not entirely working or just too convenient to have happened like that. But then again you could do that with every other movie.
The good thing about this movie, is that it sets a pace from the beginning and it never really lets you down. So while you are trying to figure out what's happening, new events come along and throw other things into the mix. You might see a few things coming or not, but the fact, that the movie does set a mood and never steers away from it, is good thing in my book.
Of course you could argue, that the characters are not really likable and there might not be someone in here with whom you can identify. Touche. But if you can see past that point, there is a little movie to enjoy here, that never aims at being much more (though you could read a bit of a social commentary, if you want to) -
jcwjcw3 October 2011I think this is the greatest motion picture of 2010. Will Canon (writer/director) is the brains behind this film. Let me also say that when I first tried to watch it, I shut it off after two minutes. Now, a few weeks later, I finished it. I admire it. ...... ...On another note, I would like to explain my disapproval that IMDb requires a review to be "lengthy." 1. My first reason is because, I do not want to spend all day on two reviews. 2. Second, I like to get a large amount of reviews and opinions. 3. Third, If the first review is 8 pages long and 5 stars. I will not watch it. Now, what if the next 100 reviews are all 10 stars? Do you see why I am complaining? 4. Fourth, Netflix knows better. Netflix allows you to drop a one line review. 5. Fifth, I am not a man that likes to just sit here talking and talking about a movie. I also like to give the next guy time to write a review. I also expect the same from other reviewers. 6. Sixth, It is much easier for me to go through reviews reading efficiently, when they are not lengthy. 7. Seventh, to give an example: When you are watching an infomercial, and they keep giving you prices, but they do not give you the real price until the end. Just give me the price! 8. Just tell me if you liked it or not!
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wandernn1-81-68327413 December 2022Well it's another movie with a very poor concept of fraternity hazing. A prank gone bad involving guns and convenience stores. I mean come on now, do frats really risk people's lives like that for fun and games? I'd really like to know.
This movie seems to try to beat even Scarface with the number of F Bombs. Even Tarantino would be hard pressed to put as many F bombs in a script as this one has.
Now there were a couple of funny moments. But really not any funny moments in here for women at all. Just a bunch of punk frat boys running around being stupid. It's really hard to fathom that many stupid things occurring in just one night.
3/10. -
birdieleigh30 March 2012I didn't expect much out of this movie coming into it. It popped up on Netflix one night, and grabbed my attention because it was a "frat movie." I'm not in the Greek system myself, but I have many good friends who are, so the subject is of interest to me (also because they are so often misrepresented in the media, but that's a discussion for another day). I prepared myself for another overblown party movie, and ended up being served something completely different and far more impressive.
What I ended up watching (instead of a fluff-piece on partying and sex) was a gripping, well-paced, superbly-acted and well-executed drama. Brotherhood is about more than "frat boys": it is about human motivation and decision making, it is about loyalty, and it shows how just one simple turn of events can change everything you had ever planned or expected.
I know the plot description for this sounds cliché and awful. Trust me--I almost didn't watch it myself. But don't pass this one up. It is a truly engrossing ride from start to finish. I really wish this film were more well-known! -
mtsinara4 October 2021What a ludicrous script! What poor and stupid choices made by virtually every member of the fraternity. Anyone with half a brain would not react to the various situations as the characters did in this movie and therefore, you develop absolutely no feeling for any of the them. So with all the non-suspenseful action and screaming-at-each-other dialogue, the movie becomes a bore.
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davebuttomer7 April 2022What a piece of garbage. How this film sits at a 6.0 rating is beyond comprehension. Horrible acting, script, boring, annoying, unrealistic, and a waste of time.
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cosmo_tiger16 May 2011How far would you go to join a frat? After a initiation prank goes wrong and a pledge gets shot they are worried that he will end up in jail. A simple job of trying to cover up the prank ends up snowballing into something that could ruin the lives of all involved. I was extremely surprised by this movie. I immediately got sucked in and was engrossed the entire time. It begins with a van of pledges staging robberies until one gets shot. The night gets progressively worse as they try to fix more and more problems that occur. Talking about this too much I will end up giving something away, and this is a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat through most of it. Every once is a while a movie comes along that surprises you so much that you can't stop talking about it to others and this is one of those movies. Watch this movie, you won't be disappointed. I give it a B+.
Would I watch again? - Yes, I think I would.
*Also try - Sorority Row & Twelve -
Go_Blue_9916 February 2012I was in a fraternity in college, so I enjoy watching movies about Greek life. Unfortunately, they all tend to be dumb slasher movies or cheesy sex comedies. I saw the description for Brotherhood and decided to watch it.
From the beginning scene, I was sucked in. I won't go into plot details, but the story keeps you guessing and is engrossing. The acting from the unknown cast is excellent was well- Jon Foster is especially good as the head of the fraternity.
And the twist at the end of the film was a great touch. The nice thing about the twist is that it's not easy to predict, but also did not feel forced.
I wouldn't necessarily call this a movie about Greek life, but it's a terrific indie drama/thriller set in the world of fraternities. -
This movie had a tightly focused story it told economically keeping the audience focused and attentive. Its a good old style movie where the story is king told like a modern movie where the audiences attention span is respected. Natural hyped performances kept the movie's and audience's heart pumping. I've read in the comments that some people didn't find the characters believable. Compared to what. your average Hollywood movie is mostly unbelievable, these guys were young at time stupid and way out of their depth, and nothing goes as planned. I can believe that easily. I wish I could directly support the production team who made this. they obviously put there all into it and it shows, but in a very skilled way, well shot and edited there is nothing unprofessional about this, its a top end movie from an indie outfit and they deserve kudos for that. Well done team. I wish your movie was getting a wide release.