Review of The Sisters Brothers (2018) by Djakeir — 26 Mar 2019

Films are art and this is an exemplary piece of it.

I have highly anticipated this film for over a year now, and since I live in the UK I had to wait an extraordinary amount of time to see this film (meanwhile the Blu-ray has already been released in the US). All of the patience and anticipation paid off in full. At the very core of this film you have talent, this results in 2 hours of spectacular scenes and a gripping story. This movie will transplant you into the minds of all characters without being too laboured or literal about it. The diversity of the characters makes you invest in each character equally despite their opposite desires and outlooks.

The first half is effective in establishing the story as well as creating a rare charm. The second half unfolds with a dark turn which is extremely heavy and shocking contrasting with the previous charm and untouchable impression established in the first half. This makes the film so impactful in a beautifully tragic way that abstractly aches the soul. Each character has a past and a unique outlook on what an optimistic future looks like. This allows for many themes to be explored simultaneously, notably greed, ambition, livelihood, power, trauma and reluctant hope. The Sisters Brothers is beautifully shot and no shortcuts were taken. Some of the sets were the best I have ever seen from a western and with the close up facial shots with ambient lighting from authentic sources was really effective in creating a sense of presence in a scene, with constant noise and movement proving to be a refreshing take on the genre as compared to the stand off stillness of traditional western films.

The story is great without being overambitious, but rather the ambition is left within the characters themselves. It is extremely easy and pleasant to watch. Finally, the acting in this film by all 4 titled cast members is absolutely outstanding. With the cast, especially Jake Gyllenhaal, the main reason for my high anticipation for this release, I had high expectations for the performances. At no time during this film did I see any actor. I only saw completely realised characters. It is when you force yourself to think about the amount of skill it takes to portray a character so believable, so cohesive and complementary to the script and other characters that you really are amazed by the acting. Films are art and this is an exemplary piece of it.

This has automatically become one of my favourite pieces of film. I am filled with joy replaying some scenes in my mind and I can only imagine the joy I will experience when I go and see the film again. Thank you to every person involved in this wonderful project.