Brotherhood (2016 film)

Plot

Ten years on after the events of Adulthood, Sam has now settled down. He has a partner (Kayla) and two kids (one from a previous relationship with Lexi who has died). He is on much better terms with his mother and brother Royston and has also befriended Alissa, who now has a teenage daughter from her relationship with the late Trevor 'Trife' Hector (who was killed by Sam in Kidulthood) He works four jobs and he works out at a local gym. One day when he arrives, he overhears a girl describe to the owner how she was attacked by someone called 'Mooks'. The owner pulls out a gun, sees Sam listening in and closes the door.

Sam's brother Royston is in a band with Henry. One night, when they are playing a gig, a gunman (later to be known as Drew) enters the venue and shoots Royston on orders. Before he escapes the venue in a Jeep, he leaves an envelope addressed to Sam next to his brother. Thankfully it is only a flesh wound. Sam visits Alyssa with some money for her daughter. Alissa, who has forgiven Sam says they must tell Trife's daughter soon what happened. She sees Sam as a family friend, but does not yet know that Sam killed Trife.

Sam visits Royston in the hospital. Their Mum is there, and asks Sam to bring the grandchildren to see her soon. Sam learns afterwards from Henry that it wasn't an accident as originally described. Henry gives Sam the envelope. There is an address that Sam is told to come to. Sam asks Henry to come with him, but Henry refuses.

On his way home, Sam bumps into a mystery lady, who accidentally spills coffee on him. She invites him to her flat to make amends, and seduces Sam. They have sex, but unbeknown to Sam he is being taped. Sam heads home and discovers he is being followed. When he realises for sure, he attacks the mystery man. As he does so, the Jeep that facilitated the gunman's escape pulls up. A man called Melvin, (AKA Hugs, because when he hugs an assailant, he knifes them for crossing him or his friends) appears from the van, and makes threats to Sam and his family, pledging to cut him. He tells Sam to come to the address on the envelope, or more people will get hurt.

Sam goes to the address. It is a lavish property in a well-to-do area. He sees the man that he originally assaulted and assaults him again. He gains access to the house but finds he is outnumbered. After an initial beating, a man by the name of Daley intervenes. He is a criminal, and clearly a successful one. He works for a notorious Kingpin known as 'Mooks'. He shows Sam around the house where it is clear he runs drugs and high-end prostitution. Daley offers Sam a job, but he refuses. Daley then directs Sam to a basement room in the house, and meets up with Curtis, Trife's Uncle. The two have a long-standing feud because Sam killed Trife and because Sam set up Curtis for a 10 year stretch in Adulthood. Curtis is now out and tells Sam he is after revenge. Not just against Sam, but his family. Sam tells him he is not into this any more, that he wants no trouble and just wants to live his life. Curtis tells him in no uncertain terms that this won't happen. After an initial struggle Sam leaves the property. He is caught on the street by Drew and some other of Daley's boys. Drew tells Sam it was him who shot Royston. In the nick of time, Henry turns up and helps Sam escape. Hugs stabs one of the kids who let Sam escape as a warning to those who fail him.

As Sam and Henry get away, Sam realizes his family is in danger. He phones Kayla to suggest she takes the kids to her Mum's for the night, as he has a job interview to prepare for. When he arrives back at the house, he finds out that a DVD of his sexual encounter with the mystery lady was delivered to his home. Sam protests that he was set up, but this doesn't wash with Kayla, who walks out. Sam contacts his old friend Desmond 'Buds' Lynch who is now a detective (he was a volunteer PC in Adulthood) and tells him what is going on. Buds and a colleague go to the address where Sam was, and is belittled and threatened by Daley for not having a warrant.

Curtis phones Sam, to further threaten him and his family. After the call, Daley is furious that Sam has spoken to the Police, and orders Curtis to get on speed things up by spilling the blood of Sam's family. After Daley leaves, Curtis and Hugs conspire to kill Daley and take over the operation. Sam's Mum is returning to home when she sees a girl being attacked. As the attackers see Mrs Peel they run away. The girl is helped into Mrs Peel's flat. She says she was robbed, but she still kept her mobile phone. She texts someone on the phone. Mrs Peel calls Sam and tells him what is happening. Sam senses something is wrong, and asks his Mum to describe the girl. After a brief description she ends the call as the doorbell rings. Sam knows something is definitely wrong here and heads to the flat. Mrs Peel asks the girl (who we now know as Janette, the same girl who seduced Sam and is working for Daley) not to open the door, but she lets in Curtis and Hugs. After threatening Mrs Peel for what Sam has done, Hugs pushes her off the balcony and Mrs Peel falls to her death. Sam arrives and discovers what has happened. As the police try to restrain him he assaults them. Sam is arrested. After an interrogation with Buds, Sam is released without charge. He arranges and attends the funeral and wake of his Mum. Royston tells Sam that his fiancee is pregnant and that they are going to move to America.

Sam has a brief reconciliation with Kayla, where they have sex but she makes it clear that even though they had sex, her and the kids are not coming home until Sam sorts this out and tells her, 'it's done'.

Sam phones Curtis to tell him he's a dead man. He breaks into the gym to steal the gun he saw at his workout. The owner catches and interrogates him, thinking Sam works for Mooks. Sam explains he needs the gun to kill Curtis and Daley. They let him go. Sam again enlists Henry to help him, who has been using an array of lies to his partner to excuse his time away from her and his son (who he wrongly suspects is not his). He tracks one of Daley's henchman to a café run by Hassan (who Sam works for). With Hassan's help he learns where to find some of Daley's other henchmen. Sam travels to a party and meets up with some more of Daley's people, who direct Sam to a playpark. After taking some 'tools' from Henry's car, Sam goes to the playpark. Drew is there, and is receiving a blowjob from a girl with two of his friends looking on. Sam assaults Drew with a nailgun until he tells Sam where Curtis and Daley are. Henry is threatened by one of Drew's henchmen Yardz with a hammer. Henry successfully persuades Yardz to change his life and walk away from any business involved with Mooks.

Sam returns to Daley's house, with some people who have agreed to help him, including Hassan, Henry and the gym owner and his friends. Hugs and Daley are there. Sam and his people storm the house. Sam heads upstairs to a locked penthouse door. Armed Police approach the scene. Janette is there. Sam knocks her out for everything she has done to help Daley, and kicks down the door. Prior to doing this, Daley - who has known all along what Curtis was planning for him - stabs Hugs and leaves him for dead. By the time Sam gains entry to the penthouse he finds Hugs dead and Daley gone. Sam pulls the knife from Hugs and the police arrive to find Sam there. The rest of his crew have since escaped. Everyone in the house - Sam, the prostitutes and rest of Daley's men are all arrested.

Buds exerts his influence to exonerate Sam as the suspect for Hugs' murder in return for him giving up Curtis, Daley and Mooks. Sam calls Curtis to arrange a meet and settle this once and for all. They meet seemingly alone at an abandoned location and fight. Sam overcomes Curtis and wrestles a gun from him. Instead of killing him as agreed, he empties the rounds from the clip and leaves the gun and bullets on the floor next to Curtis. Sam walks away. Wounded, Curtis gets to his feet and picks up the gun, loading a single bullet. He walks towards Sam but before he can shoot, he is shot by armed police. Sam goes back to Curtis, who is dying. Before he dies, Curtis tells Sam where Daley is.

Sam tracks Daley down to a flat, where he has packed a bag filled with millions of pounds, to escape. Sam stops him from leaving, by switching on the light to reveal the gym owner, a girl and another friend. Daley is finally unmasked as Mooks, and it is revealed that he beat and raped the girl. Sam has a conversation with Mooks and questions how he thought he could get away with what he's done,Sam takes the bag from Mooks, and leaves the flat. The gym owner takes out a silenced pistol and shoots Mooks dead.

Sam divides up the money between everyone who helped him get his revenge on Curtis, Drew and Mooks. He also gives money to Royston and Alissa. As he walks through a shopping mall with his family, he encounters Buds. He says Sam will get no more help from him, however still asserts that they are friends, and warns him to stay out of trouble. As Sam walks off with his family, he says to Kayla, 'It's done.'

Cast

Critical reaction

Brotherhood has received a mixed critical response. Writing in The Guardian, Wendy Ide praised Clarke's direction and performance, but "Clarke goes and spoils it all by using naked women as set dressing and cramming the frame with flash gangster cliches, which rather undermines the anti-aspirational message of the film". Terri White of Empire praised Clarke's uncompromising portrayal of inner city life, but criticized Maza's performance and that, "Clarke can’t avoid employing the third-in-a-trilogy tropes: one last job/reformed guy helps new guy who is essentially him/grossly unfair family tragedy as his three-parter reaches its too-neat conclusion".