Blood Brothers
The doors are closed. There are no more screenings of this film.
Synopsis: After a recovering addict is released from rehab, his childhood best friend passes away from an apparent overdose. However, the spirit of the deceased friend reappears and haunts the recovering addict in an attempt to cause a relapse.
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Starring
Alex Portenko (Sam)
Samuel Lewis (Chris)
Danny Audette (Uncle Mike)
Chelsea Evered (Ashley)
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Director's Statement
Throughout my life, technically since the very beginning, I’ve been around humans who suffer from addiction. It started with my own father, Kenneth Gregory, who was taken from this world at only thirty-six years old from complications caused from substance abuse. As I grew older, other family members, childhood classmates and lifelong friends suffered from addiction. I, myself, am on seven and a half years of sobriety from alcohol. However, this isn’t a unique story for me; this resonates with hundreds, if not thousands, of people in my hometown of Fall River. Outside of Fall River, millions upon millions of humans are affected by addiction by either using substances themselves or are close with or acquainted with an addict. Knowing there are millions of people affected from addiction, I’ve always found myself asking, “How did it start, what are they going through, and what demons are they battling to overcome it?”
Within the questions, the “demon” aspect was most thought-provoking for me. I couldn’t stop thinking about demons and how they haunt those who are addicted. I started asking, what do these demons look like? How do these demons manifest? Are these demons real and if so, how much do they haunt addicts? These questions eventually led to “Blood Brothers” which at its core is a story about a recovering addict battling demons to stay clean.
Within the recovery world, we constantly hear that these demons manifest in such a way that voices begin to form, almost as if these voices are luring an addict into a deep darkness. Therefore, I decided to give these demons and voices a physical form in “Blood Brothers”; a spirit that has come back from the dead. This spirit is the recovering addict’s childhood friend, and he is a full manifestation of these demons and voices. His endless pursuit to convince the addict in recovery to relapse is a constant reminder that addiction is real. Addiction is difficult. Addiction isn’t something that a human can just wish away. It’s not that simple.
Not only was I interested in an addict’s mindset, but I was also intrigued by the impact addicts have on the people around them. Addiction causes all parties around it to suffer. Some fight back while others grow tired and step away. Either way, it’s real, it’s painful and it’s complicated.
Blood Brothers doesn’t try to answer all of the questions around addiction. Instead, it poses questions, highlights the struggle, and ultimately searches for meaning and an understanding of the psychology behind addiction. Addicts are our friends, our siblings, and our parents. Addicts are humans who at the end of the day struggle with internal demons that they fight with daily. My goal for “Blood Brothers” was to highlight this struggle while reminding our audience that we are all humans who suffer, some more than others, but regardless there is an endless pursuit to overcome the struggles and for addicts, that means to remain clean.
With Love,
Kyle
Director's Bio
Kyle Gregory is a filmmaker based out of Boston, MA. He was born and raised in Fall River, MA. He holds a B.F.A in Performance from Salem State University and a M.F.A in Screenwriting and Playwriting from Lesley University. He’s performed in over 30 theatrical stage productions and a dozen short films. He’s the co-founder of APM Films and has produced and directed Blood Brothers (Short), Whistles, Dimes and Dragonflies, (Music Video) and The Critic (Short – Post-Production). He’s also the author of Nimbly Wimbly and the Great Dry Drought, an illustrated Children’s book.