brothers

exclusive preview screening plus jim sheridan q&a

IFTA is delighted to invite Irish Film & Television Academy Members to an exclusive preview screening of Brothers.

Brothers Irish director, Jim Sheridan, will be a special guest at this IFTA screening and will participate in a Q&A with IFTA Members after the film.

This exclusive Academy preview screening offers IFTA Academy Members the chance to be the FIRST in Ireland to see this latest work from the six time Oscar® nominated Irish filmmaker.

About the Film

When a decorated marine goes missing overseas his black sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home – with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family.

Brothers tells the powerful story of two siblings, thirty-something Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) who are polar opposites. A marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man, married to his highschool sweetheart, the aptly named Grace (Natalie Portman) with whom he has two young daughters (Bailee Madison, Taylor Grace Geare). Tommy, his charismatic younger brother is a drifter out of jail who has always gotten by won wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison at Sam’s farewell dinner with their parents, Elise (Mare Winningham) and Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), a retired marine.

Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother, by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace and the children.

But Sam is not dead: he and a fellow soldier have been captured by Taliban fighters. In Afghanistan Sam is subjected to traumas that threaten to rob him of his humanity. At home, in the grief and strangeness of their new lives Grace and Tommy are naturally drawn to each together. Their longstanding frostiness dissolves but both are ashamed of the mutual attraction that replaces it.

When Sam returns to the States, a nervous mood settles over the family. Sam is uncharacteristically withdrawn and volatile and is suspicious of his wife and brother. Their familiar family roles are now nearly reversed, Sam and Tommy end up facing the ultimate physical and mental challenge when they confront each other. In the shifting family dynamics, who will dominate? And how will the brothers come to terms with issues of love, loyalty and manhood – and the woman caught between them?