What siblings on screen can tell us about the state of a nation

In the 1890s, two pairs of brothers – the Lumières, in France, and the Skladanowskys, in Germany – spearheaded technologies that paved the way for modern cinema. One hundred and thirty years later, siblings are still integral to the film landscape; in Hollywood, around half of the 20 top-grossing films of the 21^st century feature siblings in some significant role.

Despite this, limited academic attention has been paid to brothers and sisters on screen. However, looking more closely at siblings in film can reveal a lot about how we conceive of this foundational relationship. Moreover, it can tell us much about the social and political landscape of a nation.

Around 80% of people in the UK and the US have a brother or sister, and for many of these people, the relationship with a sibling may be the longest of their lives. Certainly, the experience of siblinghood – whether positive, negative, or neutral – is common in most parts of the world. Research into the family, however, whether psychoanalytical, anthropological or social, tends to focus on the "vertical" relationships between parents and children.

Culturally, this relationship is framed as the most fundamental to the shaping of our identity. In comparison, the "horizontal" relationship between siblings is frequently overlooked. Similarly, in film studies, while depictions of fatherhood and motherhood on screen attract significant commentary, there has been limited discussion of siblinghood. This is despite the abundance of brothers and sisters on screen, whose relationships – whether supportive, antagonistic, indifferent, or (usually) some combination of these things – underpin a surprising amount of modern Hollywood films.

Sibling stories on screen

Once you start looking for them, siblings are everywhere in cinema. Perhaps some immediately spring to mind; at a recent talk at the Chester Festival of Ideas, I asked the audience to name some of their favourite on-screen brothers and sisters, and got a wide range of responses: everything from Jake and Joey LaMotta (Raging Bull) and Wednesday and Pugsley Addams (The Addams Family) to Smoke and Stack Moore (Sinners), John and Pearl Harper (The Night of the Hunter) and Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa (Star Wars).

In particular, stories of sibling rivalry have provided some great cinema over the years. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Godfather, Ran, A League of Their Own, The Lion King and The Fighter all demonstrate that vengeful brothers and antagonistic sisters make compelling on-screen foils, with the family connection adding weight to the conflict.

As some rivalry is almost inevitable among real-life siblings at one point or another, there is also a universality to these stories, and therefore filmmakers keep returning to the theme. One look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has generated billions at the box office in the last 20 years, shows just how potent it is: the complex, competitive relationships between sisters Gamora and Nebula and brothers Thor and Loki sit at the heart of the Infinity Saga.

Looking beyond sibling rivalries

However, as sibling scholar Prophecy Coles points out, focusing on rivalry often distracts from thinking about more positive elements of sibling relationships. Brothers and sisters are just as likely to function as collaborators, co-conspirators, or ardent supporters of one another; a common family history means that over time, they become holders of shared memories and traditions.

In cases of family separation, siblings can provide a sense of constancy, and I argue in my own research that siblings are well-placed to 'see' each other in ways that parents and peers may not: for better or worse, they possess a deep understanding of one another born of proximity of age and space (in other words, it is difficult to hide much from a sibling when you live in the same house!). I call this the "privilege of absolute knowing" or, as the director Jordan Peele puts it, "it feels like you can't get away from the good and bad that you know they know about each other".

Here, Peele is talking about his film Nope, released in 2022 and featuring sibling protagonists. OJ and Emerald are faced with an elusive, destructive alien entity hovering over their Californian ranch and must work together to defeat it. Their ability to collaborate is crucial to their success, not unlike the brother and sister in another of Peele's films, Us, whose silent teamwork helps them save their mother.

In depicting close, constructive visions of siblinghood, Peele's films reflect the wider recent trend in Hollywood of foregrounding siblings and looking beyond narratives of rivalry. And, whether positive or negative, the proliferation of sibling relationships on screen suggests a real preoccupation with these previously overlooked horizontal bonds. But what can this tell us, not just about film but about the social and political landscape of the nation from which it emerges?

Horizontal connections in media, society and politics

Although people are likely to have fewer siblings now than in the past, they may be more likely to live with them for longer. In the US, as in various other Western nations, economic factors are leading young adults to stay in, or return to, the family home, increasing the likelihood of a continued sibling connection. More adult siblings are also sharing the care of elderly parents, a state reflected in numerous films of recent years, such as The Savages and American Fiction.

For some queer youth, being ostracised from their family of origin leads to the establishment of alternative families, which frequently prioritise horizontal connections rather than a traditional nuclear hierarchy. Seeing more sibling relationships depicted on screen, therefore – as well as sibling-esque collectives like The Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy – reflects some of these demographic trends.

Horizontal relationships are not just confined to the family, however, but are part of everyday life in many other ways. Largely, this is driven by online technology and its influence on how we communicate and access services. Where once established structures of power and information existed, now there are myriad alternatives and challenges. The idea of "citizen journalism", whereby ordinary people can broadcast stories online, circumventing traditional news networks, is one example of this. There is a general understanding that in such cases, online tools can facilitate a process of democratisation, although the flip side of this is that false information can be – and is – shared just as efficiently.

Social justice movements have also benefited from horizontal connectivity, organising people across countries and time zones and using hashtags and online calls to action to mobilise large groups of like-minded people, rather than relying on individual figures of authority. This same horizontal impulse can be seen in many areas of ordinary life: where someone might once have looked to an established outlet for news, waited to see a doctor about medical symptoms, taken a course, or paid someone to come and fix something in their house, there is now Facebook and Twitter and WebMD and YouTube and Reddit.

Think of this as people looking sideways, rather than up, and the horizontal nature of modern life becomes clear. It is perhaps natural, therefore, that in this socio-political landscape, and particularly when faith in political leadership is eroding among many citizens, culture starts to reflect this state back at audiences. Films with siblings in them are nothing new, but the persistent focus on siblinghood in modern American cinema is certainly an indicator that horizontal bonds and sideways connections are more valuable than ever.

About the author

Dr Katie Barnett is a senior lecturer in Film Studies, course leader for BA Film and Media Studies, and an older sister. Her research focuses on representations of family and gender in American cinema. She is the author of Fathers on Film: Paternity and Masculinity in 1990s Hollywood (2020) and Screening Siblings in Contemporary American Film (2026).