My Hero Brother (Yonatan Nir, 2016): Israel | India

Reviewed by Hanna Olsson. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017.

My Hero Brother is a heart-warming film that takes you on a journey up the Himalayan Mountains with young people who have down syndrome and their siblings. The film really shows the beauty of the Himalayas but also the difficult and demanding effort it takes to reach the top and to carry on when taking on the steep elevation. This is a difficult task for anyone but especially for people with down syndrome because they are not used to pushing themselves past their limits. However, this film shows the shows the support and encouragement that each young adult gives each other through this journey. Even though it was a struggle for every single one of them, they were all there for each other when they needed that extra push to keep them going. It really moves you to see these down syndrome strangers come together as if they have known each other forever. The siblings really open up about the difficulties of growing up and taking care of their down syndrome siblings whether they were embarrassed of them or just found it hard to speak and understand them. Even though they find their sibling difficult sometimes, they really cherish the amount of love they expel constantly to those around them.

“They have a soul that we don’t have”

The siblings constantly talked about the love their down syndrome sibling always had and how they think from the heart. Even when the siblings fought and argued on the journey up the mountains, each time the down syndrome sibling would eventually apologize and remind them how they love them. People may wonder why these siblings would make their down syndrome sibling take on such a dangerous and extreme task but they found it really important that their sibling isn’t held back in life just because of their disability. They really did not want their down syndrome siblings to live just an ordinary life but to push themselves and to feel accomplished after embarking on a journey they thought they could not do. They wanted to make sure their sibling felt proud of themselves and to have memories to be able to look back on. The film really showed the struggle of trying to get the down syndrome siblings up the mountain but how the siblings pushed them past their limits because they believed in them and did not want to give up on them. Through these complex relationships between the siblings, it really showed the growth of their relationship as they relied on each other. The difficult trials that each of them faced was put aside when they supported each other with unconditional love. This film really digs deep and gives people a greater understanding of the difficulties that families face when they have someone with down syndrome, but it also shows the beauty of their relationships. After the long and strenuous hike, they all made it to the top of the beautiful and scenic Himalayan Mountains where the group shared tears and laughs about their journey. I highly recommend this film if you want to see raw unconditional love that is shared between siblings and strangers through beautiful and difficult times.