![‘My Brother's Killer’ Review: Decades Later, An Unsolved Murder Receives The Average Documentary Treatment [SXSW]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/14221542/MyBrothersKiller_image16-9_MarcRabins_1767832455613001lbqA.jpg "‘My Brother's Killer’ Review: Decades Later, An Unsolved Murder Receives The Average Documentary Treatment [SXSW]")
An interesting study surely exists on the ratio between unsolved murders and those that found some semblance of resolution, even if said resolution took far longer than originally hoped. The number of cold cases in existence remains staggering, with the manpower needed to find closure for each significantly lacking from year to year; it’s usually someone, whether a member of law enforcement, someone close to those directly involved or combination thereof that end up being the ones to scour every piece of evidence and claw towards the end, no matter the difficulty or amount of time that passes. It’s a thankless endeavor, with satisfaction hardly guaranteed once an outcome finally arrives.
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It’s not meant to ward off those who want their questions answered. For the people impacted by a sudden death or related event, it’s a pain that never completely goes away. Still, when the surrounding circumstances are murky at best, it fails to offer anything akin to peace. A documentary carrying the name “My Brother’s Killer” could be seen as another look into a near-endless list of mysterious deaths; after coming out to a father quick to disown, a series of events takes a man named Bill Newton from Ladysmith, Wisconsin into the gay porn ecosystem of Los Angeles, where some success in front of the camera under the name Billy London masks his wish to move behind the scenes.
Friends interviewed discuss the gay scene back in the late-’80s/early-’90s; far from safe, it was shockingly easy to get in the wrong car with the wrong person, someone who might carry hostile intentions and potential hatred towards the person you may be. Unfortunately, when Billy’s dismembered remains are found hidden within a dumpster, the questions soon mount. How could they not?
Unfortunately, as days turn to years, a notable lack of public relations support seems to bury Billy’s situation, even as a well-placed newspaper article could help move the needle in favor of those who plead for answers. The question of why this case remains unsolved arises more than once; could this have been planned? C
Could the chief suspect(s) actually be innocent? Photos taken of an assembled crowd the day of Billy’s discovery warrant further analysis, but the passing of time freezes such a moment with little to no movement until a 2020 true crime podcast decided to devote an episode to the case, soon catching the attention of one detective armed with fifteen pounds of information bound into a book. Could this film be what ultimately solves this mystery?
It’s an undeniably interesting case, though, by receiving a boilerplate documentary treatment, it differs little from an extended “Unsolved Mysteries” segment or an identical documentary, of which there are countless. It is, however, refreshing to see a start-to-finish arc, a trait noticeably absent from many of its contemporaries, with the emotion firmly laid upon the sleeve of each interviewee as fresh as if Billy’s death just happened. Clearly, the motivation of bringing every question across the finish line never faltered as the decades passed, even with near-endless roadblocks along the way and a fortunate twist of luck all it took to prompt those triumphant phone calls to those affected; in seeing how everyone reacted to the outcome, anyone who’s solved such a case can surely relate. It’s a satisfying moment, even if the film around it falls into an average valley. [B-]
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