Blood Brothers
Genre: Drama
Director: Elijah Bynum
Writer: Giovanni Garcia
Based on the play Topdog/Underdog
Cast: Aldis Hodge, Jharrel Jerome
Plot: In a dimly lit, run-down arcade, Lincoln (Aldis Hodge) sits motionless, donned in a tattered Abraham Lincoln costume. Tourists pay to "assassinate" him with toy guns, a macabre attraction that has become his livelihood. His face, painted white, bears an expression of emptiness. Flashbacks reveal his past as a vibrant street hustler, deftly manipulating cards and charming crowds.
Lincoln returns to the cramped apartment he shares with his younger brother, Booth (Jharrel Jerome). Booth dressed in a dapper suit that may or may not be stolen is engrossed in practicing three-card monte on a cracked coffee table, his movements awkward yet determined. He boasts about his progress and dreams of making money through the hustle. Lincoln dismisses his ambitions, warning him that the game and the hustle at large is a dead end , dangerous and filled with deciet. ""too many ghosts, too much blood" Lincoln matter of factlty states.
Tension rises early: Booth resents Lincoln for abandoning the hustle (and, implicitly, the power and respect that came with it), for his lowly job as an arcade performer, a job in which both brothers find demeaning but Lincoln views as honest work. While Lincoln sees Booth as naive and reckless.
The two brothers pass their nights after Lincoln's shifts at the arcade trading stories and lamenting their life's woes. Always coming up short on rent, failed relationships, and especially Lincoln's absurd choice of job. Their conversations, peppered with dark humor and old inside jokes, slowly reveal deep-seated issues: jealousy, unspoken love, and their parents' sudden abandonment when the boys were children and the deep scars it left.
Booth talks obsessively about his plans: moving out, getting rich, seducing women — living large. Meanwhile, Lincoln reveals he’s been warned he might be fired from the arcade; business is dying. He fears returning to hustling but feels trapped.
Booth shows off stolen suits, a hustle he's gotten quite good at and tries to impress Lincoln, craving his brother's approval. Lincoln, for his part, mocks Booth but there’s clear pain underneath — a man who hates what he has become and what he could never be.
As their financial situation worsens, Booth pressures Lincoln to return to the streets and teach him the art of the hustle. Lincoln, reluctant to revisit his past, and fearing that teaching Booth might destroy him initially refuses. However, after losing his job at the arcade due to the establishment closing down for good, he agrees to one final night of hustling to help Booth.
They practice together, with Lincoln demonstrating his swift and precise card manipulation. Booth watches with a mix of admiration and envy, eager to prove himself. The night of the hustle arrives, and they set up on the street. Initially, the adrenaline and easy money are exhilarating. But old tensions surface when Booth accuses Lincoln of overshadowing him, of always being the "topdog" while Booth remained in his shadow.
Back at the apartment, high on success and rage, Booth demands they settle things once and for all—a "final game" between the two of them. Winner takes everything: money, pride, freedom. Booth insists on running the cards; Lincoln reluctantly agrees, his demeanor strangely calm.
Booth shuffles the cards. Lincoln picks wrong, again and again. Booth taunts him, desperate for dominance. Then, with quiet devastation, Lincoln reveals the truth—he'd let Booth win. Booth has learned nothing; he's still clumsy, still second-best.
Blinded by rage and humiliation, Booth pulls a gun—a pistol he's kept hidden. A struggle erupts. Old wounds, betrayals, desperate longing for respect and love all boil over. In a tragic instant, Booth shoots Lincoln.
Lincoln collapses, blood staining his Lincoln costume. The apartment, once a place of shared memories, now becomes the backdrop for tragedy. Booth stands over his brother, realization dawning too late. He screams, a mix of grief and rage, as he cradles Lincoln's lifeless body.
Booth, alone in the apartment, surrounded by scattered cards and blood, practices the shuffle—still clumsy, still lost. his face, a mixture of confusion, sorrow, yearning.
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