Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Mistaken for Strangers follows The National on its biggest tour to date. Newbie roadie Tom (lead singer Matt Berninger’s younger brother) is a heavy metal and horror movie enthusiast, and can't help but put his own spin on the experience. Inevitably, Tom’s moonlighting as an irreverent documentarian creates some drama for the band on the road. The film is a hilarious and touching look at two very different brothers, and an entertaining story of artistic aspiration.
Mistaken for Strangers subverts the concert documentary form brilliantly — what begins as a fly-on-the-wall tour film becomes a moving character study of sibling rivalry, artistic insecurity, and the pain of being the less-celebrated brother. Tom Berninger's chaotic, self-deprecating presence gives the film a genuine emotional core that few music documentaries achieve. The plotting is surprisingly strong for an ostensibly unscripted film, building to a genuinely affecting climax. Cinematography is rough and functional at best, befitting its guerrilla origins but nothing special. Acting is largely naturalistic (it's a documentary), with Tom's bumbling authenticity being its own kind of performance. The ending lands with real emotional weight, reframing everything that came before.