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Brother's Keeper

Play trailer Poster for Brother's Keeper 1992 1h 44m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky directed this documentary about a death in upstate New York in 1990. The eldest of a family of four brothers, William Ward, was found dead in his home, and his brother Delbert was accused of suffocating him. The ensuing trial leads to tensions within the small rural community in which the brothers live, due to media coverage that presents the quiet, hardworking family as illiterate bumpkins, and to growing real estate speculation in the area.

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Brother's Keeper

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy Variety A discomforting, almost surreal study of a rural murder case, which offers fascinating insights about both family and community dynamics. Rated: 4/5 May 8, 2006 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Rated: 4.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Brother's Keeper, the year's best documentary, has an impact and immediacy that most fiction films can only envy. Rated: 4/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine It’s another immersive portrait of a small community dealing with death, less scabrous and activist than the Paradise films. Jan 24, 2023 Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm ...could be accused of exploiting the Wards except that the movie develops exploitation as one of its themes. Rated: 3.5/4 Apr 24, 2015 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The excellent humanistic documentary is a rich slice of life piece of Americana. Rated: A Mar 15, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Leaburn O One of the more fascinating homicide case documentaries. Sitting in some legal grey area, you end up unsure as to what actually happened or if the culprit was guilty or not. Either way, you don’t really care because the sight of mentally challenged people being scrutinised in the dock is grim viewing and highlights how some cases require common sense approaches rather than following the absolute letter of the law. Hard to decipher what the characters are saying at times but the gist is clear. Watched on YouTube though the version I saw had sound blackouts for a few minutes during the film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/05/24 Full Review Audience Member Provides engaging insights into the background of this supposed murder case as well as sheds light on the judgment of uneducated beings under a criminal light. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Unique & gripping film that leaves you guessing about a lot of things: what exactly is wrong with these brothers? Inbreeding? Lead poisoning? It's not just the IQ issue that's haunting...Lyman's chronic nervousness & trembling is disturbing as well. They're all nearly deaf for some reason. And ALL of these guys look not one day younger than 80. All are in their 50s or 60s in the film. Makes you wonder what hellish lives they've lived leading up to this point. Even if Bill was murdered, he's probably better off wherever he is than living in this 4-man unheated shed with no running water. So sad. A painful glimpse into rural American life. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Four elderly, semi-literate brothers live together on their dairy farm in upstate New York. One of them dies in his sleep, and the police arrest one of the brothers for murder based on extremely vague medical evidence and a confession elicited under extremely questionable circumstances. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky cover the town's banding together to support the brothers and the eventual trial. Like their subsequent "Paradise Lost" films, this tells a story of an injustice ... the police manipulate a man with no practical knowledge of his rights and with highly suspect mental capabilities into telling the story the want to hear. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member 4.5/5.0 stars - Grade: A Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Worth watching! The trailer for this movie isn't the correct one. The one I watched was a documentary. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Brother's Keeper

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky directed this documentary about a death in upstate New York in 1990. The eldest of a family of four brothers, William Ward, was found dead in his home, and his brother Delbert was accused of suffocating him. The ensuing trial leads to tensions within the small rural community in which the brothers live, due to media coverage that presents the quiet, hardworking family as illiterate bumpkins, and to growing real estate speculation in the area.
Director
Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Producer
T.J. Amato, John K. Duncan, Larissa Michel, Josh Mills, Bruce Sinofsky, Joe Berlinger
Production Co
Hand to Mouth Productions, American Playhouse
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2016
Runtime
1h 44m
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