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Brothers of the Head
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
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  1. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Gianni Truzzi
    100
    It's pretty weird stuff, and filmmakers Keith Fulton and Luis Pepe embrace it with a layer of cinematic gauze that builds a pounding energy to this hypnotic twisting of rock legend.
  2. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    100
    It's terrific! Shot by the brilliant cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle ("Dogville," "28 Days Later," etc.) and anchored by amazing performances from identical (but not conjoined) twins Harry and Luke Treadaway, Brothers of the Head is not a freak show, or a knockoff "Rocky Horror" camp celebration. It's a work of powerful atmosphere and significant mystery. Plus, it rocks.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    90
    A work of terrific imagination, visceral punch and gothic beauty.
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    It ends up seeming more real and more artistically, morally, and spiritually honest than any dozen bedrock documentary films you'd care to name.
  5. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: KJ Doughton
    80
    Like a good rock record, Brothers of the Head isn't easily explained. But its original fusion of real and surreal will cling to your cranium for years.
  6. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    80
    Yes, this is another faux rock documentary, but one so dramatically and visually textured that it reinvents that decidedly worn genre.
  7. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    75
    This is a very tender portrayal of young people caught up in a blisteringly fast and cynical world, and though their music is hideous, they are a compelling act.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    75
    So cleverly constructed that it's easy to be taken in and believe these twins really rocked.
  9. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    75
    Despite some excitingly shot concert footage, one scene begins to feel very much like the next, and it's all rather predictable.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    The film is something to see, and when it addresses the mysterious bond connecting creative people, it has an urgent, ugly splendor.
  11. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    75
    There are real thrills here, especially as the Bang Bang starts touring and becomes a minor sensation. But it's a little too hermetic and goopy and humorless and cool to invite you to wrap your arms around it. The Howes shared a single liver, but what this film version of their lives needs is more heart.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    70
    The golden-hued footage is lovingly faked by ace cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, and the straight-faced result is as improbably touching as the Farrelly brothers' underrated "Stuck on You."
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    70
    Thought-provoking as it is, Brothers of the Head keeps its distance, choosing to tell a story about telling stories. But the story itself remains an unexploited gold mine.
  14. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    70
    A fake documentary that barely lets on that its fiction, this devilishly clever film tells the story of conjoined twins who create a minor sensation in Britain on the eve of punk rock.
  15. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    70
    Bizarre, edgy and haunting tale.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    70
    Feature debut by Yank duo Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe isn't so far from their engrossing docus on Terry Gilliam's filmic adventures, "The Hamster Factor" (1996) and "Lost in La Mancha" (2001), except here the madness and exploitation is part of the music scene.
  17. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    67
    Brothers isn't nearly as haunting and singular as "Last Days," because the faux-documentary format too closely mirrors the Behind The Music trajectory of a thousand other rock-band flameouts.
  18. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    Unnerving.
  19. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Kate Taylor
    63
    What is missing from Brothers of the Head is an equally sturdy connection between form and content.
  20. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    50
    Facetious form dictates hollow content in Brothers of the Head.
  21. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    Directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha) are too preoccupied with hip cleverness to have much else on their minds, and the music is so-so.
  22. Empire
    Reviewed by: Patrick Peters
    40
    Despite the odd moment of visual bravura, this mockumentary is too aware of its own satirical daring. Consequently, it's never as dark, dangerous or amusing as it thinks - and the soundtrack is diabolical.
  23. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    40
    Ultimately, Brothers is a flashy, stylistic show of emptiness, intended to protest emptiness. But that's clear almost from the outset.
  24. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    "This Is Spinal Tap" took the mockumentary up to 11. Brothers of the Head brings it back down to about four.
  25. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    25
    A glumly serious British mock rock doc: You could forgive the paucity of jokes if Brothers of the Head had anything to say, or if the '70s-vérité surface were remotely convincing.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. PooksS.
    10
    The soundtrack alone is enough to make this a fantastic film, and the riveting performances from the Treadaways make sure of that.
  2. ChadS.
    6
    For the savvy rock-and-roll fan in the know, the point of "Brothers of the Head" was to create an alternate music history in which the provincial punk-rockers Bang Bang preceded both, The Sex Pistols, and quite possibly, The Ramones. But since their music is so horrible, the uninititated might mistake "Brothers of the Head" as a deadpan comic take on "This is Spinal Tap", because more likely than not, they'd also be unfamiliar with the tradition of naive art(Wesley Willis, Daniel Johnston, etc.). Although the Rob Reiner mock-doc is by far the superior film, this ambitious curio from the UK truly feels unscripted as a real documentary should. It's actors never seem aware that the cameras are rolling. Of course, the trade-off isn't exactly a crowd-pleaser; you're sacrificing entertainment for authenticity. At times, "Brothers of the Head" is difficult to watch, due in part to the indistingushable personalities of Tom(Harry Treadway) and Barry(Luke Treadway). Neither twin are particularly interesting, and worse, their mumbling dialogue(which is prosaic without a lick of wit or humor) overlaps each others' words. It takes a woman reporter, Laura Ashworth(Diana Kent), to make either musician remotely interesting, when the ice queen chooses Barry. As a result of this newly created love triangle, the thunderstruck musician changes the title of his to ode to her existence from "My Friend" to "My Friend, You C***". At first you're shocked(and so is she), but you quickly come to realize his sudden resistance to love(as does Laura), since a normal life means having to ignore the incidental menage a trois each time they make love. "Brothers of the Head" muck things up a bit towards the end by overstacking its deck as to who was the catalyst for the demise of Bang Bang.… Full Review »
  3. AngelaM.
    10
    Oh my gosh what a movie! And the music is so fantastic. I bought the movie and the CD for my car!
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