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Based on a story written by her brother, Among Brothers is supposed to be a true tale, but good luck finding any historical information about this case. Everything in the film is fictionalized -- there is no Bergan University -- so separating the truth from 'the facts' that the brother uncovered during his ten year search for what really happened is an exercise in futility.
What's left is a bit of a mess of a movie, something you'd probably see on Court TV or America's Most Wanted. Schwert (working from a story from 'Jennifer Matthews' brother') paints a picture of a spurned lover, an accidental-ish killing, and a bunch of frat boys (hence the title) who cover up the crime. There's a misdirection in a lusting professor who's smitten with Jennifer, but otherwise it's pretty much a straight-up killing-and-cover-up movie.
The movie is at its best much after the fact of the crime, when the antihero (Matt Mercer) is wracked with guilt over the crime. Will he survive unscathed? Well, he isn't going to prison, but somehow the brother found out the truth, I suppose. (Director John Schwert writes to tell us every name and place was changed to avoid liability.)
The film is overall an amateur affair, with low-grade video and some pretty awful acting. As a condemnation of the fraternity system, I'm prone to almost endorse the thing, but really, this barely scrapes by as entertainment, art, or history lesson.
