Brothers’ Nest

Against the cold chill of the early morning, two brothers ride on push bikes through the deserted roads and farmland of rural Victoria. Arriving at a small property surrounded by rusted antique cars, the brothers’ dismount. This is their family home and they have come to prepare a murder. Real-life brothers Shane and Clayton Jacobson reunite on the screen in Brothers’ Nest, a blackly comical and intimate thriller from writer Jaime Browne that doubles as an all too recognisable tale about family dynamics that are never as simple as they seem.

Pulling double duties as both director and star, Clayton Jacobson crafts a methodical thriller that balances on the knife edge between comedy and tragedy. As Jeff, the eldest of the two and the brains behind the operation, he presents a man prepared for every scenario. Arriving with a schedule, a to-do list and plans B, C and D, Jeff is a model criminal, careful and fastidious and so certain of the righteousness of what they are doing. Younger brother, Terry (Shane Jacobson), is less so, teetering between conviction and doubt as the film veers from farce to fury. The relationship between the brothers’ is the fulcrum upon which the plot hinges and the two Jacobsons’ bring the full weight of their real-life history to the role, with Shane in particular revealing shades audiences may never have seen before.

But it is Brownes’ script that proves the devil is in the details as familiar family squabbles about which appliance is best for electrocution pay off later in the final act. Jacobson and Browne expertly turn the screws tighter and tighter as Jeff’s careful planning dives further and further into disarray. So too do the characters as our assumptions of who these men are, and their family, are consistently challenged until the final reveals.

With detailed production design and cinematography that succeeds in crafting a world that feels like home, yet is isolated against a cruel and beautiful winter landscape, Brothers’ Nest is a thriller full that will have you clenching your seat right up until the screen cuts to black and the credits roll.

Brothers’ Nest 
In cinemas Thursday, 21 June 2018
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