The Brother from Another Planet is a 1984 low-budget American science fiction film, with a legacy as a cult classic, written and directed by John Sayles.

His extraterrestrial powers are shown in many encounters: When he lays his hand on a wall, he can hear the voices of those who once filled a building - he cannot speak, but he can listen with terror and sympathy.

Sam (Tom Wright), a social worker, secures him housing as a boarder with single mom Randy Sue Carter (Caroline Aaron) and her son, Little Earl (Herb Newsome).

When he fixes a game to make it fast enough to satisfy young gamer Ace's desire for speed, the Brother smiles for the first time.

Having seen drug abuse and its tragic effects, he reveals another power: He temporarily removes one of his eyes, leaves it on the stoop of the dealer's brownstone and uses it as a video camera.

When hope seems lost and his captors are leading him away, the Brother reads street graffiti that was written by other escapees; he breaks away from the electronic hold and runs into an alley, where a crowd of his fellow aliens are waiting to defend him.

[5] According to a Daily Variety (July 10, 1984) article, Sayles wrote it while waiting to secure funding for Matewan (1987), and decided to go ahead first with The Brother.

[7] Sayles also invested his own money acquired from cable sales of Return of the Secaucus 7, as well as writing fees for his work adapting The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequel, The Valley of Horses.

[6] Jessica Ritchey of the website RogerEbert.com wrote of the result, "The film is beautiful to look at too, shot in the warm golds and purples of twilight in New York City.

Sayles and cinematographer Ernest R. Dickerson take advantage of that certain slant of light that can turn a city space from inviting to sinister in a moment.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring director John Sayles' trademark humanity and an expressive performance from Joe Morton, The Brother from Another Planet is an observant, dryly comic sci-fi gem.

"[1] Vincent Canby called it a "nice, unsurprising shaggy-dog story that goes on far too long" but singled out "Joe Morton's sweet, wise, unaggressive performance.

Club, in a 2003 review of the film's DVD release, said the film's superhero scenes are "often unintentionally silly, but again, Sayles shapes a catchy premise into a subtler piece, using Morton's 'alien' status as a way of asking who deserves to be called an outsider in a country born of outsiders"; commenting on the DVD, they noted its "marvelous" audio commentary track by Sayles, "who moves fluidly from behind-the-scenes anecdotes to useful technical tips to unpretentious dissections of his own themes.

The movie would have benefited from more attention to the bounty hunters, whose difficulties with Harlem culture would have balanced the Brother's strange ease of assimilation.