MOVIE TITLE: Brotherhood: A Cinematic Musical
This patriotic musical about fellowship and kindness releases in theaters on October 9, 2026.
RATING: PG
LENGTH: 1 hr 45 min
Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+
Featured Product About This Movie:
You can find the soundtrack album for Brotherhood: A Cinematic Musical on Amazon at https://amzn.to/4hbabQa
IN A NUTSHELL:
Brotherhood: A Cinematic Musical tells the heartfelt story of two next-door neighbors, Jon and Fabián, whose lives become deeply intertwined. Jon is a lifelong American citizen, while Fabián is a Mexican immigrant who has spent years waiting for a resolution to his U.S. asylum application.
Directed and written by Ross Boothe, this modern musical features 13 original songs that focus on empathy, human connection, and what it truly means to love your neighbor beyond political rhetoric. This is Boothe’s directorial debut as a feature film.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
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Thematic elements surrounding immigration, legal uncertainty, and emotional family struggles.
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No strong profanity or graphic violence, making it a great conversation starter for teens and families! Yay!
- Some heavy thematic discussions might feel a bit complicated and slow for younger children. The film is very dramatic.
THEMES:
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Loving your neighbor and empathy
- Racism
- Illegal immigration
- Patriotism
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Family, community, and human connection
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Identity and seeing people beyond political labels
- Personal responsibility
- Ignorance
- Love thy neighbor, friendship
- Service to others
- Faith
- Prejudice
THINGS I LIKED:
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Casey Elliott (from GENTRI) and Broadway veteran Mauricio Martínez deliver incredible, emotional vocal performances. They were both really fantastic!
- Everyone in the cast did a good job.
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The lovely cinematography by Oscar Ignacio Jiménez humanizes the characters and honors their stories.
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Beautiful, memorable original score with 13 numbers that drive the heart of the story. The song “Two Worlds Next Door” was released as a single on music platforms two months before any part of the film was shot.
- Fun choreography and enthusiastic dancers.
- I loved the little details, like when the Mexicans were chopping vegetables in their restaurant in the shape of the Mexican flag.
- I was an exchange student in Mexico when I was in high school. I love so many of their customs, and I’m glad the movie displayed some of them. For example, a lot of Americans think the “Day of the Dead” festival is kind of creepy with all of the skeletons put up as decorations. I think the movie Coco really helped North Americans to understand how sweet the devotion is that Mexicans have for their ancestors. It’s a colorful Disney/Pixar movie that celebrates family and honors heritage. If you haven’t seen that adorable animation, you should definitely check it out!
- Illegal immigration is an extremely controversial subject in America. It was brave of the filmmakers to turn this heavy topic into a musical! It gave me some of the same vibes as the Lin-Manuel Miranda movie musical In the Heights I really love that musical and think they handled difficult political topics quite delicately and beautifully.
- The film tries to show how ignorance and prejudice need to be replaced with kindness, tolerance, and brotherly love.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
- Many of the scenes feel melodramatic and are very emotional.
- The film has a very liberal perspective on immigration. It would have been nice to show a more balanced telling of the situation. Those with conservative values in the film were portrayed as simply being mean-spirited. Illegal immigration is much more complicated than that.
- I was annoyed by the Mexican wife’s terrible attitude about the USA. No one forced her to come to the USA. She talked about how she was always looking over her shoulder. If she came here legally, she wouldn’t have to look over her shoulder all of the time. What I have a problem with is people who break the law to come here illegally and then demand legal rights like voting, free legal aid, healthcare, and other financial benefits that law-abiding citizens are paying for in taxes. When they wave their own country’s flag in defiance, it makes me wonder why they don’t just go back to their own country if they love their country so much and hate it here in America. Does that sound harsh? Dreamers are in a very difficult situation since they were children when their parents brought them across the border illegally. I absolutely understand including those issues in the film because it’s about a unique community and situation. I’m just saying that some viewers might be annoyed by the simplistic portrayal of politics. My daughter-in-law is from Hong Kong. She and my son spent years going through interviews, paperwork, their bank account, and more to ensure she was here legally. Every immigrant’s situation is different and needs to be considered carefully.
- ICE was portrayed as vicious bad guys in the film. Their job is simply to enforce the LAW. Why is protecting one’s country’s borders such a terrible thing? The USA is villainized but there are many other countries that have even stricter border laws and bigger walls, such as India, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and more!
FUNNY LINES:
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“Come on, Landon. You gotta be a good man.”
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“How do you say your name, man? I know I don’t say it right.”
INTERESTING LINES:
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“I still believe that liberty and justice are not just an American dream. No, liberty and justice are para todos.”
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“What’s our responsibility? Do we step up, stand down, love your neighbor? What does that even mean?”
- “Mexico is my heart. America is my soul.”
- “We can’t change the world, just us.”
- “Everyone comes with a story.”
- “We’re all just people…we’re the same.”
- “America doesn’t fail good people.” later…”It’s up to us to make sure we don’t fail good people.”
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Dr. Trina Boice is a university professor, author of 36 books, professional author coach, YouTuber, podcaster, film critic, and mom of 4 awesome sons.
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