Following the premature passing of Moko’s older siblings, he has to abandon his dreams of pursuing a master’s degree and single-handedly raising a newborn along with three other siblings, Woko, Nina, and Ano. Balancing everything pushes him to shove his girlfriend, Maurin, who was hoping to start her career as well, out of his life. The few bright spots in Moko’s existence, include working to support his relatives, and taking in his former piano teacher’s daughter Gadis after her father’s job abroad forces him to relocate.
Life, however, begins to take a positive turn with the arrival of his older sister and her boyfriend, Eka, who come to help out. With Maurin’s assistance, Moko is also able to land a job. The issues do not cease, however, as Moko simultaneously has to tackle his savior complex.
It seems that Laurens here infers a fable-like approach to the story by beginning with the way the youths end up being by themselves and progressing with the entire narrative, both in the romantic and the professional sense. Additionally, the “Shoplifters” vibe stands out quite clearly, although “A Brother and 7 Siblings” advances into more approachable paths than Koreeda’s masterpiece. Simultaneously, the who will take care of whom and who will suffer the most concepts are rather overdone here, in an intensely melodramatic fashion, just like the rest of the film which would have been far more effective if it was considerably shorter.
That said, the film also has some merits. For one, there is a very intriguing underlying commentary claiming that particularly men of the previous generation were essentially useless or even problematic and dangerous. Eka’s role as the piano teacher, and the rest of the fathers as the protagonists, supports this argument in a rather simplistic but powerful and eloquent manner along with the primary story themselves.
Best of all, the presence of the character’s protagonistic charm comes out, especially with Chicco Kurniawan as Moko and Amanda Rawles as Maurin considering that the two have great chemistry together. Ringgo Agus Rahman as Eka gives a show-stealing performance, the same can be said to Freya Jayawardana as Nina and Ahmad Nadif as Ano, here chemistry is a key element of course. Moreover, as I have said before, Laurens’s approach to humor in the movie, or as some would say ‘junior’ style, even in the most unexpected moments, is unapologetically local and cracks mere mortals.
Lastly, the comedy elsewhere is located in unexpected places that fully unabashedly showcase the prowess of his direction, even if some of the jokes do have a rather local humorous flair.
In the movie, the drama and the warm relationship of all the main protagonists emit is quite omnipresent as it, literally, carries the film for most of its duration.
Dimas Bagus Triatma Yoga’s work is deceptively competent, with the editing Hendra Adhi Susanto ends up complimenting what in my opinion could be put as mid-tempo pacing, although, as I said before, the film would be served better if it was on the shorter side. The cinematography is somewhat oversaturated in the close-ups, which is a bit too much, but otherwise works quite well, particularly in the moments many of the characters are together on screen.
“A Brother of Siblings” can be viewed as a relaxing film to unwind to, as it mostly pleasant to watch. This enjoyment, however, is clouded by Laurens’ approach to the film. He added too many pleasing particulars, which caused the film to lose its direction.
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