Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
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In our exclusive interview with writer, producer and director, Charles Murray we discussed the his influences, the effects of labeling a person and the meaning behind the title of his new film, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW.
Charles Murray is an established writer, producer and director in Hollywood, working on iconic series that span a variety of genres on the small and big screen. Murray describes himself as a syndicated TV baby, who thrives on meshing multiple genres with rich character development to elevate the story. Whether it is his work on the action drama Sons of Anarchy, or the sci-fi-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Murray expressed that his writing is always driven by the characters within the genre to propel the story.
“But it's all about the person under the costume. If I do character work, I can drop in the code words. He picked up a lightsaber. Oh, he picked up a gun. He picked up a knife… you know, all of that can change as long as I'm sticking to character growth.”
A Story of Redemption
In his newest film, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, Murray explores the limits of loyalty amongst a family and specifically, the bond between two brothers who must confront their internal demons. Omar Epps is Marcus Cowans, a troubled man who has the chance to turn things after a series of poor choices, but finds himself confronted with internal demons and the mistakes of his brother. William Catlett is Marcus’ brother Drew Cowans, a man attempting to prove his innocence to local law enforcement in a murder case and to break free from his brother's curse. As both men navigate their loyalty, jealousy and anger towards one another, Marcus finds himself spiraling back into the dark place he overcame.
In the dramatic-thriller, Murray sets out to explore how a character with a troubled past can show the determination to rise up and make the difficult decision to break the perception and prove to his family that he is more than the toxic label that has followed him over the years, even if it means stepping away from his family.
“So what we do is we operate off of our truths that we emotionally connect with us. That's why some people are bullies. That's why some people are victims. That's why some people are just disconnected. And when you start to drill it down into family, those names that we assign can do damage.”
Murray shared that the film, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke, influenced him in the development of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. Murray wanted to explore an emotional journey of a man who is struggling to redeem himself and his family’s perception of him, while challenging Marcus to break from the cycle of making the same mistakes.
“And a person has to rise up above it. And when they rise above, it takes them pretty much pulling away from that belief system to get someplace emotionally where they can be resilient enough to say, I don't necessarily have to be that.”
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW will inspire conversation about the fellowship of brothers, the moral compass and limits of family and leave you asking the question. Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
Get Tickets THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is now playing