Elderly brothers René and Rob can’t do with or without each other. René lives the life of a recluse, in a house that is overflowing with stuff. When things threaten to get out of hand, his younger brother Rob intervenes.Filmmaker Tom Fassaert, Rob’s son, documents these weekly visits and recognizes a familiar dynamic. Rob, a retired psychologist, slips into the role of counsellor; René, a longtime psychiatric patient, becomes his client. Their underlying irritation is genuine, but so is their affection.

As Rob and René repeat the same ritual every week, Tom begins to sense that something must be behind it. Something old and unspoken. In the family archives, he discovers a mystery: when the brothers were children, their father disappeared without a trace. No goodbye, no explanation, just an absence that has influenced three generations.

Tom has explored his family history before. In A Family Affair (2015), he examined the legacy of an emotionally elusive mother. In Between Brothers, he turns to his father and uncle. He takes them on a road trip without a clear destination, in search of traces of a man who deliberately left none behind. En route, it becomes clear that the man who disappeared has left more than just questions. He has left a blueprint for how men in this family withdraw and retreat, each in their own way.

• Screenplay & direction: Tom Fassaert
• Producers: Een van de jongens, Hasse van Nunen & Renko Douze
• Co-producers, Hanne Phlypo, Clin d'Oeil Films

• Broadcaster: KRO-NCRV
• Length: 55' & 90'
• Status: Will be premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2026
• With the support of NPO fund, NL Film fund, NL Film production incentive, COBO fund, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Cultuurfonds Almere