Brothers (2009)
There are two sides to every family.
When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 2 December 2009 |
| Genre | Drama, Thriller, War |
| Director | Jim Sheridan |
| Starring | Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman |
| Runtime | 105 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 6.2/10 · Metacritic 58/100 · Rotten Tomatoes 63% · TMDB users 7.3/10 |
Where to watch Brothers
Brothers is streaming on Prime Video ($13.98 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Prime Video is $13.98 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 30 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Rent or buy
Brothers is in US cinemas from 2 December 2009. No store lists it to rent or buy yet.
Where to watch Brothers in 9 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Australia | ARD/ZDF |
| Belgium | Netflix €10.99 |
| France | Prime Video €6.99, Max €10.99 |
| French Guiana | Prime Video |
| French Polynesia | Prime Video |
| Japan | U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Monaco | Max |
| Netherlands | Netflix €9.99, Prime Video €4.99 |
| Poland | Prime Video 25.99 zł |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Jim Sheridan directs this 105-minute drama, thriller, and war film where a Marine returns from a fourth tour in Afghanistan to find his brother has taken over his life. The premise is simple: a man comes home, and the household structure breaks. It leans into the thriller genre not for plot twists, but for the quiet, suffocating tension of a marriage that has already moved on. Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal play the brothers, while Natalie Portman anchors the domestic chaos. It is a study in how grief can be a possession. The tagline says there are two sides to every family. Here, both sides are armed.
What the critics said
Critics found Brothers mixed, though not uniformly bad. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 63% as of February 2025, with an average rating of 6.2/10 from 156 reviews. Metacritic lands on 58/100 as of February 2024, labeling the reception mixed or average. Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars, calling it "Tobey Maguire's film to dominate." Owen Gleiberman, however, gave it a C+, finding it "lumbering and heavy-handed." The performances carry the weight, even when the direction stumbles.
How it did with audiences
Brothers spent $26 million to make and collected $43.5 million globally. That breaks down to $28.5 million in the US and Canada, plus $14.9 million elsewhere. It opened on December 4, 2009, pulling in $9.5 million for its weekend. Third place behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon is a respectable landing spot. TMDB users score it 7.3 out of 10. The math works out to a tidy profit, which counts as a win in this industry.
What came next for the cast
Tobey Maguire spent the years between Spider-Man sequels in a sort of professional hibernation. Jake Gyllenhaal emerged from that period with a string of intense indie drams, including Prisoners and Nightcrawler. Natalie Portman pivoted hard toward blockbuster franchises, starring in the Thor films. The timeline suggests momentum, but the credits only list what followed. Correlation is not causation.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Brothers.
Sources
- Brothers on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q948635 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Brothers (2009 film)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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