The price of vengeance is a steep one, and those who seek it aren’t always ready to pay the bill when it comes due. In the gritty crime thriller Brothers by Blood, a film that stars the terrific cast of Joel Kinnaman, Matthias Schoenaerts, Maika Monroe, and Ryan Phillippe, the price of revenge has long-lasting and tragic repercussions.
Based on the Pete Dexter novel, which has been adapted and directed by Jérémie Guez, Brothers by Blood centers on Peter Flood (Schoenaerts), who as an 8-year-old boy witnessed his sister’s death by a reckless driver. Peter’s father swears revenge, which has tragic consequences that haunt Peter well into adulthood. Years later, Peter is tries to leave the family’s criminal business behind but is pulled back in by his impulsive cousin Michael (Kinnaman), who is gaining power but does something reckless that puts family loyalty to the test.
Look, you had me at Schoenaerts, who is now and has long been my only man crush. He’s just great and intense in everything, and this appears to be no different. He and Kinnaman seem to be drawn to these dark, violent crime movies and I’m happy to see It Follows breakout Maika Monroe joining them. Is there anything she hasn’t been great in?
Brothers by Blood hits select theaters and digital on January 22nd 2021.
In the City of Brotherly Love, eight-year-old Peter Flood helplessly watches on as his little sister is killed by a neighbor’s reckless driving. Tormented with grief and resentment, his father finds revenge as the only solution, leaving lasting generational wounds. Thirty years later, Peter (Matthias Schoenaerts) still wrestles with the guilt he feels over his sister’s death and his father’s vengeance. As he tries to distance himself from the criminal family business, his cousin, Michael (Joel Kinnaman), becomes more powerful in the hierarchy. Bonded by blood, neither man can escape violence as they are dragged further into a chilling cycle of betrayal and retribution.
