Bra Boys

R16

2007

90 mins

Directed by Sunny Abberton
59%
71%
Documentary

A documentary about the cultural evolution of the Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle faced by it's... More

A documentary about the cultural evolution of the Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle faced by it's youth – particularly the notorious surf gang, the Bra Boys (Marou'bra' – get it?).

It is the first full-length film project officially sanctioned by the Bra Boys and it shows their success in professional big wave surfing, as well as exploring their international reputation for hard partying and rough justice, touching on their running battle with authorities and showing their absolute reliance on one another to fit into society.

Central to the story are the Abberton brothers – Sunny, Koby, Jai and Dakota … one charged with murdering a Sydney man, another pursuing a professional surf career but charged as an accessory in his brother's legal fight, another trying to hold the family together and a young brother whose inheritance is his siblings' notoriety.

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Where to watch Bra Boys

Bra Boys is available to stream in New Zealand now... More on DocPlay and Apple TV Store and Academy On Demand and Beamafilm and AroVision.

Bra Boys | Ratings & Reviews

59_%29 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
71_%3,498 reviews
Audience score rating

"Technically as rough-and-tumble as its subject matter, Bra Boys is a rare mix of surf movie, buddy movie and social documentary. While it can't be accused of being an impartial film, it is genuine and heartfelt, tracing the story of the three Abberton brothers..."

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Urban Cinefile

"It's the debut of a new style of "gangsta" surf movie that has its antecedents in US subculture films such as Dogtown and Z boys (2001), and an earlier Australian genre: the bushranging film... Bra Boys is an accomplished, if contradictory, piece of work. It gives a vivid sense of the cult of masculinity in a working-class Sydney beach suburb, the rampant physicality that values a brawl as much as a barrel, and it's just as clearly a work of bravado, a legend-making exercise, but I didn't mind that..."

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Sydney Morning Herald

"The Abberton boys and their associates are portrayed not only as heroes and all-round good guys, but also the innocent victims of the authorities who pick on them. You can't have it both ways, surely?... From a social anthropology standpoint it's interesting, in the same way that Dogtown and Z-Boys (2002) was, but Bra Boys lacks the same polish and craftsmanship..."

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