Suicideboys | Go Ahead, Brother review
Go Ahead, Brother is a very good action cinema straight out of ‘Stathamesque’ and ‘Seagalesque’ action thrillers. Nevertheless, it is not just an ordinary story of violence, bad guys and good guys, or an avalanching revenge. What’s more, the story in the Polish series from Netflix is not one-line as in the case of the most popular productions that raise our adrenaline. Yes, the nature of the storytelling is closest to the action cinema of the commercial kind, which often receives the patch of ‘satysfying mindless cinema’, but the creators quite skillfully jump between stories that are not fully told.
The director of the series is Maciej Pieprzyca, who has several projects under his belt, and the particularly successful Raven trilogy has been a springboard for him in his peri-series career. The cinematography of Łodź is impressive, and despite everything, it’s a very nice change after the Warsaw, Wrocław and Tricity sceneries. Here, of course, the credit goes to Witold Płóciennik. The screenplay was written by Kacper Wysocki, who returns to work on the Netflix project after being responsible for the plot in Feedback.
Alina Trybiło-Falana, as casting director, has composed a very interesting crew to play specific characters. In the cast of the series, the most well-known actors are those characters from the background, while the most important roles were given to younger artists who, despite some better or worse performances, are just building their names in the industry. The main roles are played by; Piotr Witkowski (Oskar Gwiazda), Konrad Eleryk (Sylwek, Oskar’s brother-in-law), Marcin Kowalczyk (Damian Czorny) and Aleksandra Adamska (Oskar’s sister Marta). In addition to them are Anastasiya Pustovit, Mirosław Haniszewski, Jakub Wesołowski, Sebastian Dela, Andrzej Popiel, Piotr Adamczyk, Cezary Żak and Jan Peszek.
The authors put a very strong emphasis on the realism of events. They put their story into the framework of the history of a special police unit, where a tragedy occurs at the very beginning of the series. The main character, through the ostracism of an intimate group of police specialists, is expelled from the unit, and thus we get a preliminary outline of later events. Oscar is a protagonist with problems, not only the material ones brought on by his father or his discharge, but primarily those of a psychological nature. It is this second pool of his problems alternating with the first that will give Go Ahead, Brother the best in terms of the final reception of the series. The panic attacks experienced by Oskar are rendered in a very natural way.
Oscar is accompanied in very good style by the character of his brother-in-law Sylwek, whom Konrad Eleryk effectively plays as a hero trapped between all possible worlds. In the end, it is he who accompanies him on a suicidal mission that has no rational reason to succeed. However, what impresses the audience most is Marcin Kowalczyk, who plays the character of Damian Czorny superbly. A very big part of this is how he is written, because one can’t help but notice that all the plot choices as a negatively oriented character are perfect against the backdrop of the events of the Łódź story. Damian is a violent protagonist, but in no way typical of action cinema. He is certainly closer to calculating, focused and charismatic antagonists than to those explosive, unrestrained and acting mindlessly at every turn.
Action cinema productions are an integral part of Polish and world cinema whether film or series. It would be unreflective to criticize a film or series just because it presents a simple story wrapped in chases and shootouts. That’s why series like Go Ahead, Brother are needed for the genre by showing a lot more possibilities while fulfilling the basic premise of providing entertainment.
We invite you to the final screening at BNP Paribas Warsaw SerialCon of the series Go Ahead, Brother – December 8th, 2024 at 4:45 pm in cinema room 1 of the Kinoteka.