Half Brothers
Half Brothers is a 2020 American road comedy-drama film directed by Luke Greenfield from a screenplay by Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman. Starring Luis Gerardo Méndez, Connor Del Rio, José Zúñiga, Vincent Spano, Pia Watson and Juan Pablo Espinosa, the film centers on two half-brothers taking on a road trip across the country to solve clues left by their dying father.
The film was released on December 4, 2020, by Focus Features.
Plot
Renato, an aviation business executive working in his own company based in San Miguel, receives a call from Katherine, who informs him that his father Flavio is sick and wishes to visit him to the hospital in Chicago, where he resides. Renato reluctantly obliges, having had a grudge with his father for not returning to him when he immigrated to the United States 25 years ago. He first encounters Asher, who is making a blog at a coffee shop, before he is later revealed to be his half-brother, whose existence he is unaware of. Flavio asks the brothers to deliver an envelope with the word "Eloise", to a man in St. Louis named Evaristo. Renato berates Flavio and storms out of the hospital, but after visiting his wake, he begrudgingly agrees.To Renato's anger, Asher takes a detour and steals a small goat whom he calls "Renatito" from a local ranch from a barn owned by a group of armed men. They eventually reach an old factory in St. Louis that produces radio-controlled airplanes that Renato and Flavio used to play with. Directed by one of the factory's employees to a Mexican bar across the street, they meet Evaristo, a friend of Flavio's who also immigrated to the United States with him.
Providing them with a key, Evaristo explains to Renato that Flavio worked in the local factory as a cheap laborer, but he manages to revitalize it into making RC airplanes with the help of his then-business partner, Katherine. The two had a good professional relationship that turned into a one-night stand. Evaristo then gives Renato a box with another envelope written to a "Mr. B," which contains a claim ticket for a pawnshop; the two deduced that the pawnshop is located in Oklahoma City.
Renato and Asher finds Mr. B, who presents them with Flavio’s wedding ring. Mr. B explains that Renato was mugged on his way for the border, forcing him to pawn his ring for the money needed to return to the border. However, he was arrested by border guards. Mr. B gives them an envelope for Eloise containing a picture of a convent in El Paso. Asher wants to know more about Flavio, but an impatient Renato unsuccessfully tries to head back to Mexico, only to find his passport is missing.
Driving towards El Paso, their car runs out of fuel; they find an unlocked cabin stocked with ethanol, which Renato plans to process into gasoline. When Renato discovers that Asher is the one who stole the passports to prevent him from leaving, he locks him up in the bathroom and abandons him but was soon arrested by the border guards and spends a night in the cell with undocumented immigrants.
He was bailed out by Asher, who reveals that the cabin they broke in belonged to a group of rednecks they had previously encountered at a gas station and had taken his goat Renatito captive. Renato and Asher return to the cabin and fill it with ethanol vapour to knock out the rednecks and save Renatito.
As they reach the border city of El Paso, Renato finally opts to go to the convent for the final clue, which gives them a DVD from Flavio, who explains that he was found care by the nuns from the nearby convent after he was left for dead. However, before he could cross the border, he was informed by Katherine that she had given birth to Asher. Not wanting to leave another son behind, he called his old wife to let her know that he wasn’t going to come home, and that was when Renato stopped caring for him. Flavio also explains that while he did love Asher, he initially saw him as a substitute for Renato and grew distant from him when he realized that Asher was different. He explains that he loved both of them and had orchestrated this road trip in hopes that they can not only forgive him but grow as brothers.
The nun then shows the brothers that "Eloise" is really a full-size plane Flavio built for his sons. Now with a way to return to Mexico, Renato invites both Asher and Renatito to his upcoming wedding, and they fly away together above the Sumidero Canyon, where Renato and Flavio had once dreamed of flying there. As Renato and Pamela get married, their son, Emilio, flies his toy plane and crashes into a nearby house, prompting everyone who witnessed the accident to run.
Cast
- Luis Gerardo Méndez as Renato
- * Ian Inigo as the Young Renato
- Connor Del Rio as Asher
- José Zúñiga as Evaristo
- Vincent Spano as Mr. B
- Pia Watson as Pamela
- Juan Pablo Espinosa as Flavio
- Jwaundace Candece as Doris
Production
In May 2019, it was announced Luis Gerardo Méndez had joined the cast of the film, with Luke Greenfield directing from a screenplay by Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman with Focus Features producing and distributing. In June 2019, Connor Del Rio joined the cast of the film. In August 2019, Pia Watson, Juan Pablo Espinosa and Vincent Spano joined the cast of the film.Principal photography began in New Mexico in July 2019, and lasted 31 days.