Shine Your Eyes - Stream It or Skip It

For all its visual prowess and artistry, the real beauty of Shine Your Eyes lies in its discussions of freedom versus control and prophecy versus fortuity, as one brother finds freedom and the other a self-imposed prison. Watch Shine Your Eyes now on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.

The year is 1988, and the country is Nigeria; two young brothers lie together, gazing into one another’s eyes as the sun streams through a window; the older brother, Ikenna, tells his younger brother, Amadi, that they are one, that his soul has reincarnated into his younger brother. So begins Matias Mariani’s sophisticated and delicate journey into belonging, obsession, and love: Shine Your Eyes.

Following this brief glimpse of Amadi’s childhood, we are taken forward to Amadi (OC Ukeje) arriving in Sao Paulo; his mission is to find his older brother, Ikenna, who has been missing for months. Ikenna’s emails and letters home were full of his achievements as a data scientist, including a university professorship and a beautiful home. However, as Amadi digs into the stories Ikenna shared, all is not as it seemed.

The journey we are taken on in Matias Mariani’s poetic film challenges us to look beyond simple answers and ideas. Here, the streets of São Paulo become a character in their own right through Leonardo Bittencourt’s beautiful cinematography. Amadi’s slow awakening dovetails with the freedom, art and creativity of a city built on immigrants, colour and culture. However, for all its visual prowess and artistry, the real beauty of Shine Your Eyes lies in its discussions of freedom versus control and prophecy versus fortuity, as one brother finds freedom and the other a self-imposed prison.