Sweet Brother | laykeanderson

'So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan: He who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.'

— Revelation 12:9

Currently filming, Sweet Brother tells the story of Jude, a gentle man on a journey across 'Hell' to pay a healing visit to a woman called Bess - a blind pot-head with a love for house-plants and classic literature, but an aversion to people.

What Jude is to discover during his visit, is that this woman isn’t at all who she appears to be on the surface, for Bess happens to possess what just might be the most powerful object in all the universe. The question is, will a pious young man submit to temptation, or will a blind adherence to dogma protect him from the coming 'apocalypse'?

A meditation on the fall from grace, and a savage fairy tale for our troubled times, touching on transformation and chaos, morality and revelation, the number eleven, fruitcake... and unicorns. The film also explores the guises of Satan and the limits of God’s patience.

The journey so far...

What began as a writing exercise during the lockdown of 2020 quickly grew into something of a passion project based around the ideas of 'faith' and 'trauma', and the screenplay was devised around two magnificent actors, Sophie Brooke and Orlando Brooke. While the majority of the film has indeed been scripted, Sweet Brother's process eschews the more traditional style of filmmaking, with the images serving more as an exploration, rather than just an illustration.

A crowdfunding campaign was launched on Good Friday 2021, successfully raising more than 122% of the original target budget, with backers including Martin Sherman, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Emilia di Girolamo, Stephen Fry and John Cameron Mitchell.

You can follow the progress either here, or on the film's Instagram or Facebook pages.

The Indiegogo link will remain active throughout the course of production, should any new backers wish to join us on this journey, and new perks will be added in the coming weeks.

Thank you to every generous soul who has backed or supported this ambitious little film!

featuring

Sophie Brooke

as 'Bess'

Orlando Brooke

as 'Jude'

with

Raffiella Chapman

Maya Markelle

Peter McPherson

Lisa Moorish

Carl Barât

Charlie MacGechan

Luke Callan

Gem Carmella

Chloe Keenan

Merryl Ansah

Alistair Hall

Stefania Licari

Jerry Jane Pears

Anarosa De Eizaguirre

Executive producers: Pip Pickering, Robert Mathis and Dan Hubbard.

Co-producers: Scott Brand, Aidan O'Callaghan and Sasha Latoya.

Associate producers: Christian Mahieu, Stuart Crowder and Glen Allen.

Producers: Layke Anderson and Alejandro Sesma.

Creative producer: Leni Von Eckardt.

Casting Director: Maia Von Hurter.

Director of Photography: Alejandro Sesma.

Additional Photography: Jean-Paul Berthoin.

Writer and Director: Layke Anderson.

Further cast and crew will be announced over the coming weeks.

If you would like to get in touch for more information, please use the CONTACT form.

Casting on the film has already been completed.