While casually scrolling through TikTok recently, I stopped on a clip that showed something I had genuinely never seen on screen before. Two young Black boys were engaging in a sweet, awkward flirtation, playfully trying to figure out when they were going to ride bikes together.
Seeing this kind of innocent, youthful flirtation between young Black boys was groundbreaking in itself, but it was the next part of the scene that truly grabbed me.
Watching this exchange from a distance was an older high-school-aged boy, who I would soon learn was the younger boy’s brother. In so many narratives we have been conditioned to expect, this is the moment where the older brother shuts it down. We are used to seeing the older sibling dismiss a younger brother’s queerness, or we see the younger brother terrified to even express himself out of fear of rejection.
But not here. Instead, Malik (played by Zechariah Eubanks) sees that his younger brother Terrence (Alexander Bello) is visibly flustered by the encounter and simply checks in on him.
“Yo, you good, T?” Malik asks, before casually dropping some older brother wisdom: “You gotta be more suave with them. These little boys don’t know what they want.”
He was entirely supportive. He didn’t care that his little brother liked boys; he just gave him the exact same playful, protective advice he would have given if Terrence was attracted to girls. It was a beautiful, quiet moment of unconditional love.
This opening sets the tone for My Brother & Me, an amazing 17-minute short film written and directed by Ryan DeForeest. The story officially kicks into gear when the brothers set out on a mission to secure a bike for Terrence so he can go on his date. This quest, however, opens up a massive can of worms regarding Malik’s painful past and his virtually non-existent relationship with their distant father.
The film’s logline describes it as a coming-of-age story about two brothers who attempt to rob their distant father of their overdue child support money. And while the plot delivers on that tension, the emotional core of the film explores a reality rarely discussed out loud: Black men have daddy issues, too.
Throughout the short, we watch Malik grapple with the deep-seated anger he holds toward his father. Yet, despite his own emotional turmoil and trauma, he never wavers in showing up for his little brother.
The performances by Eubanks and Bello are incredible, capturing the nuanced, protective, and sometimes messy reality of true brotherhood. The industry has clearly taken notice of DeForeest’s brilliant storytelling, as My Brother & Me recently earned a nomination for Outstanding Short Form (Live Action) at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards.
What makes this project even more exciting is that this short film serves as a proof-of-concept for a full-length feature film.
Following the massive, culture-shifting success of trailblazers like Ryan Coogler, it is more important than ever that we actively support the next generation of storytellers. We need directors like Ryan DeForeest who are bold enough to tell unique, authentic stories that reflect the diverse realities of our community today.
My Brother & Me is a beautiful piece of cinema that challenges old tropes and redefines what Black brotherhood can look like on screen.
Do yourself a favor and watch the short film today, and let’s make sure DeForeest gets the backing he needs to bring the feature-length version to the world.
