''A Brother's Love'' () is a 2019 Canadian
comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film written and directed by
Monia Chokri. It had its world premiere in the
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
section of the
2019 Cannes Film Festival
The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2019. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu served as jury president for the main competition. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho won the , the festival's top prize, fo ...
. It was released theatrically in Canada on 7 June 2019 by
Les Films Séville.
The film stars
as Sophia, an immature university graduate student who is forced to reassess her life when her brother Karim (
Patrick Hivon), with whom she has always had a very close and
codependent relationship, falls in love with her gynecologist Éloise (
Evelyne Brochu).
Plot
Sophia earns her
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
for her thesis on
Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...
, but discovers a lack of teaching positions available in her field and is saddled with
student debt
Student debt refers to the debt incurred by an individual to pay for education-related expenses. This debt is most commonly assumed to pay for tertiary education, such as university.
The amount loaned or the loan agreement is often referred to as ...
. At age 35, she lives rent-free with her brother Karim and leads tours at a local
art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...
. Pregnant, Sophia seeks an
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and she and Karim meet Eloïse, a doctor. Eloïse recognizes Karim as a man she met and slept with when she first moved to
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
several years ago. Although Karim does not remember Eloïse, they agree to see each other again. After the abortion, Sophia tells Karim he should date a woman like Eloïse, but is turned off when he replies he will see Eloïse herself. Sophia loses her job at the gallery and decides to write a novel. She returns to Karim's apartment and speaks loudly about how she imagined Karim's date with Eloïse went, speculating Eloïse is frigid and shallow. Sophia is embarrassed to see Eloïse is in the apartment. Envious and concerned about Karim entering into an increasingly serious relationship, Sophia watches Eloïse as she interacts with Karim.
Eloïse and Karim take Sophia to a dinner, and Eloïse also brings her best friend Jasmin, a male
midwife
A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...
. Concerned she has been lured into a double date, Sophia is offended when Jasmin says giving birth is the most important event of a woman's life; Sophia never wants to have children. Jasmin and Sophia share a taxi, and Jasmin asks to see her again, though Sophia is reluctant. Eloïse then joins Karim and Sophia in a dinner with their parents. There, Sophia engages in a heated argument over her family, saying the world is overpopulated (when Eloïse expresses a desire for children) and her eight years of education were for nothing. Sophia storms out and refuses to apologize. She leaves Karim's apartment for a room at Jasmin's apartment; she also accepts a job as a French-language tutor for immigrants in the suburbs. Jasmin and Sophia have sex; the next morning, Sophia rushes to her new job and struggles on where to begin.
Sophia visits Eloïse in her office and tearfully apologizes for her behaviour at their last dinner. She confesses she had never seen her brother so happy. Eloïse replies by comparing the sibling relationship to
atomic theory
Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The definition of the word "atom" has changed over the years in response to scientific discoveries. Initially, it referred to a hypothetical concept of ...
; since people are made up of atoms, they inherit their atoms from their parents, and she understands Karim and Sophia share a connection.
Cast
*
as Sophia
*
Patrick Hivon as Karim
*
Evelyne Brochu as Eloïse
*
Mani Soleymanlou as Jasmin
*
Magalie Lépine-Blondeau as Anabelle Lajoie
*
Sasson Gabai as Hichem
*
Niels Schneider as Alex
*
Mylène Mackay as Emilie
*
Micheline Bernard as Lucie
Accolades
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brother's Love, A
2019 films
2019 comedy-drama films
2010s Canadian films
2010s French-language films
Canadian comedy-drama films
Films about siblings
Films directed by Monia Chokri
Films set in Montreal
Films shot in Montreal
French-language Canadian films
Films scored by Olivier Alary
French-language comedy-drama films