After the Screaming Stops

The world of rock and pop music is stuffed with tales of broken dreams and stunted careers, but this revealing documentary about late-80s British boy band Bros has more going for it than just raking over the coals of their meteoric rise and fall. A break-out hit from the 2018 London Film Festival, this candid film reacquaints us with the Goss twins, drummer Luke and singer Matt, as they attempt to put aside their differences to perform a reunion concert at London's O2, 28 years after their last time on stage together. Following their split, Luke moved to LA and has carved out a successful acting career, featuring in Guillermo del Toro's Blade II and Hellboy 2 - "del Toro adores him," says Hellboy star Ron Perlman. Matt, meanwhile, has a residency singing at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The film touches on the heady days of Brosmania (though third band member Craig Logan is barely mentioned) but it's really all about the four-week countdown to the concert, which exposes long-standing grievances - Luke's resentment over just being the drummer; his brother feeling he has to make "a never-ending apology for being Matt Goss". It's occasionally raw (and very salty) as the duo argue while their musicians twiddle their thumbs waiting for things to calm down. However, co-directors Joe Pearlman and David Soutar are more interested in the human beings behind the tabloid headlines, as demonstrated when the boys address painful memories concerning the sudden death of their sister and the passing of their ever-supportive mum. In the end, the journey to restore their relationship is the soul of the film, leaving the climactic concert as a rousing coda to that.