The Yellow Birds is an upcoming American war film directed by Alexanrdre Moors. The film is based on the novel “The Yellow Birds” by Kevin Powers. Starring Tye Sherilddan, Jack Huston, Aiden Ehrenreich, Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette, the film premiered at the Sundance film Festival in January 2017.
What can we expect from the film?
Two young soldiers, Bartle (21) and Murph (18) navigate the tenors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph’s mother before their deployment.
Once the unspeakable happens, one soldier struggles to keep the balance between the truth that he vowed not to speak and the peace that mourning mother seeks.
Principal photography on The Yellow Birds began in October 2015 in Morocco and wrapped on January 29, 2016. Filming was split between Georgia and Morocco.
Director Alexandre Moors is best known for 2013’s sniper drama Blue Caprice.
On casting Star Wars lead Ehrenreich, Moors said:
“He was someone who had the maturity to take on a role like [Bartle], which goes to very dark places at times and needs somebody who has a gravitas and a certain ability to understand the layers in the script.”
A Sundance reviewer described the film as:
“The Yellow Birds,” however, is not just a combat film. It’s a somber, guilt-ridden meditation on the price of war, one that examines the intertwined fates of two soldiers: Brandon Bartle (Alden Ehrenreich), 20 years old, lost in the murk of what happened over there and Daniel Murphy (Tye Sheridan), the 18-year-old recruit he took under his wing.”
Following the film’s Sundance Premiere, another reviewer commended the director:
“The war scenes are strong, with an emphasis on the almost complete arbitrariness of who lives and dies.”