In 1994 Mexico, Renato Murguia's father, Flavio immigrates to the US in search of economic opportunity as their country undergoes an economic crisis. Although Flavio promises to return soon, he does not. 25 years later, Renato is a successful aviation company executive based in San Miguel, is engaged to Pamela, a single mother who already has a son, Emilio. Renato is contacted by a woman named Katherine, who reveals that she is Flavio's second wife and that Flavio is very ill and wishes for Renato to see him in Chicago. Resentful, Renato reluctantly flies to Chicago.
Visiting his ailing father in the hospital, he finds out that a man called Asher, whom Renato first encountered at a coffee shop, is in fact his half-brother, who he didn't know existed. Flavio asks the brothers for a favor; to look for "Eloise" after delivering an envelope to a man named Evaristo. However, Renato, still resentful, refuses and storms out of the hospital. Flavio dies the next day. After attending the funeral with Asher, he relents.
On the road, Renato falls asleep and wakes up at a goat farm, finding Asher running toward the car with a small goat which Asher names "Renatito," as armed men with rifles chase Asher. The two manages to escape, but Renato berates Asher for stopping just for a goat farm, which is out of the way of their destination. After the long detour, they reach an old factory in St. Louis that once produced radio-controlled airplanes that Renato and Flavio used to play with. Directed by one of the factory's employees to a Mexican bar across the street, they meet Evaristo, a friend of Flavio's who also immigrated to the United States.
Providing them with a key, Evaristo explains to Renato about how Flavio did everything he could to make enough money and return home. He worked in the factory until he came up with the idea to make toy planes, which revitalized the company with the help of Katherine. They had a good professional relationship that turned into a one-night stand, which gave Flavio guilt for betraying his first wife. So, Flavio snuck out and used his own money to head back to Mexico. Evaristo then gives Renato a box with another envelope written to a "Mr. B," which contains a claim ticket for a pawnshop. Before they can learn anything else, the two are forced to run away when Asher picks a fight with some men he had made a bad pool bet with.
The two stop at a motel where they deduce the next location from the claim ticket from Mr. B's envelope, leading them to a pawn shop in Oklahoma City. They reach the shop the following morning and meet Mr. B, who presents them with Flavio’s wedding ring. Mr. B explains that Renato was mugged on his way for the border. With no money, he went to the pawnshop, where Mr. B offered to buy Flavio's wedding ring and keep it there until he could raise the money to buy it back. After this, Flavio attempted to cross the border but was arrested by border guards and thrown in jail. While in custody, Flavio became ill, and the guards dumped him on the side of the road. Before telling anything else, Mr. B gives them an envelope for Eloise; it contains a picture of St. Mary's Convent in El Paso, Texas.
Renato, furious and impatient, grabs his bag and tries to head to the airport, but turns back upon discovering that he doesn’t have his passport. However, their car runs out of gas. While looking for help, they find an unlocked cabin, full of pure alcohol, which Renato plans to process into gasoline to refuel Asher's car. When Renato discovers that Asher is the one who stole the passport, he locks him up in the bathroom and abandons him. Renato then has second thoughts, and turns back to save Asher only to be arrested by a border patrol officer. Renato is thrown into detention with undocumented immigrants until Asher bails him out the next morning. Asher then reveals that the cabin they broke in belonged to a group of rednecks they had previously encountered at a gas station and are now planning to eat Renatito. Renato and Asher return to the cabin and fill it with ethanol vapour to knock out the rednecks and save Renatito.
As they approach the US-Mexico border, Renato decides to go to St. Mary's Convent in El Paso for the final clue. The brothers meet a nun who takes them to a cabinet that requires a code, which turns out to be the name "Eloise" from the envelope. In the cabinet, they find a DVD from Flavio, which reveals that after being left for dead by the prison guards, he was found and took care of by nuns from the nearby convent before he was able to leave. However, Flavio then found out that Katherine had given birth to Asher. Not wanting to leave another son behind, he returned to Chicago and called his old wife to let her know that he wasn’t going to come home, and that was when Renato stopped caring for him. Flavio also explains that while he did love Asher, he initially saw him as a substitute for Renato and grew distant from him when he realized that Asher was different. He explains that he loved both of them and hopes that they can not only forgive him but grow as brothers.
The nun then shows the brothers that "Eloise" is really a full-size plane Flavio built for his sons. Now with a way to return to Mexico, Renato invites both Asher and Renatito to his upcoming wedding, and they fly away together above the Sumidero Canyon, where Renato and Flavio had once dreamed of flying.
Renato and Pamela get married, and Renato starts to bond with Emilio by flying a toy plane with him, only for the plane to crash into a nearby house, prompting everyone who witnesses the accident to run away.
In May 2019, it was announced Luis Gerardo Méndez had joined the cast of the film, with Luke Greenfield directing from a screenplay by Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman with Focus Features producing and distributing.[5] In June 2019, Connor Del Rio joined the cast of the film.[6] In August 2019, Pia Watson, Juan Pablo Espinosa and Vincent Spano joined the cast of the film.[7][8][9]
The film grossed $720,000 from 1,369 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office.[11] It remained in second in its sophomore weekend, falling 30% to $490,000. On its third weekend it earned $200,000 more.[12]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 36% and an average rating of 5.2/10, based on 45 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Half road trip comedy, half family drama, Half Brothers adds up to a less-than-halfway-entertaining look at immigration through the experiences of two siblings."[13] According to Metacritic, which sampled seven critics and calculated a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 77% of audience members gave the film a positive score, with 47% saying they would definitely recommend it.[11]
