Bruiser
Bruiser
6.2100%75%
During summer break, 14-year-old Darious explores the boundaries of his manhood through tumultuous interactions with Malcolm his strict father and a burgeoning mentorship with mysterious drifter Porter.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 4, 2025
Bruiser is an assured debut feature film from Miles Warren. A coming of age drama, it follows 14 year old Darious (Jalyn Hall) as he‘s caught in the gravitational pull of two opposing male role models in his life—his caring but overbearing step-father Malcolm (Shamier Anderson) and the cool and muscular drifter, Porter (Trevante Rhodes), that makes Darious’ acquaintance. When Darious gets beat up one day, it puts Malcolm and Porter’s approach to aggression and violence at odds which will ultimately lead the men towards confrontation.
Warren incorporates some striking cinematic imagery— a couple motorcycle shots and some night time carnival shots in particular caught my attention. But the standouts are the Rhodes and Anderson’s performances. Each playing sympathetic and strong yet also deeply flawed characters gives both actors plenty of range to work.
Impressive first feature from Warren and hopefully an indication of big things to come.