When I was little, my friends and I would use a Flip Video camera to record a variety of short movies filled with plastic lightsabers, Nerf guns, pirates and zombies. To any passing viewer, they’d just look like a group of 10-year-old boys smacking each other with fake swords on a front porch. To us, however, the storylines and cinematography were better than anything Steven Spielberg could ever hope to make.
That’s probably because we pictured those stories in our heads as something like the YouTube channel Shiloh & Bros.
Shiloh & Bros stars, unsurprisingly, Shiloh Nelson and her brothers—most notably, Judah, Elijah and Micah (though other brothers, sisters and friends show up, too). And each video transports the siblings into a variety of “Realos,” different worlds that have their own rules and laws of physics.
For the sake of parents reading this review, these worlds are generally based on video games, including Among Us, Mario Kart and a variety of games on Roblox The plots of these videos generally follow the group as they experience those games in real life, often having to beat the game to survive, escape or save the day.
Other videos, meanwhile, center on the group as they survive zombie outbreaks or blast each other with water guns, Battle Royale style. Regardless of the type of video, they all come with costume designs, set pieces and even the occasional CGI creation.
Oh, and these videos are just the backdrop of a larger plot: Viewers learn that the family represents the Missions Operations Management (M.O.M.) Agency. Their agency uses portals to enter these game-based Realos to rescue innocents and combat evil … and, through their adventures, hopefully discover the location of their missing mother (in the lore, to be clear).
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The videos on Shiloh & Bros are impressive in their set and costume designs as well as the clear amount of effort that went into making each of them. Each member of the team plays into their assigned character archetype well. And the storyline threaded throughout their videos is certainly intriguing.
The group is steadfast in fighting evil and protecting others. In one video, Shiloh tells someone that “the strongest thing is to put others first.” Indeed, plenty of their videos include individuals sacrificing themselves to save the rest of the group (for the most part, these characters come back by the end of the video).
It is evident that the cast truly enjoys their time making the fun videos together. Many guest stars (and not merely Shiloh’s family members) come back even years later to star again.
Intense dramatic moments are often interjected by a joke or two to keep the viewing light for younger viewers.
Though language isn’t really a concern here (crude language doesn’t get worse than “gosh dang it”), parents may find the constant screaming to be a bit grating. Otherwise, crudities tend to be no worse than general bathroom humor.
Episodes nevertheless come with general peril, from zombification to otherworldly creatures. Still, these encounters largely use Nerf guns or other toy weapons, wherein any damage is merely acted—or characters vanish in puffs of smoke before returning later.
Some of the creatures Shiloh and her brothers come across are from horror games, such as Five Nights at Freddy’s and Poppy Playtime. Others have magical abilities. In one such case, a chess-based villain brings forth a prison cell with a wave of his hand. In another, they battle Oskar, the chess instructor from the popular app Duolingo; he casually states that he’ll get to keep their souls if they lose against him.
And in regard to that last sentence, some videos are inherently based on promoting a paid sponsor’s website, video game or app.
Suffice to say, my childhood Flip Video recordings never looked quite as good as the videos on Shiloh & Bros.
The channel caters to a younger audience, and its engaging stories will keep kids entertained for hours. While parents may need to contend with a couple of minor issues, the content here is pretty mild.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
