SummaryAgainst the explosive backdrop of the Iraq War, young soldiers Brandon Bartle (Alden Ehrenreich) and Daniel Murphy (Tye Sheridan) forge a deep bond of friendship. When tragedy strikes the platoon, one soldier must return home to face the hard truth behind the incident, and help a grieving mother (Jennifer Aniston) find peace.
Directed By:Alexandre Moors
Written By:David Lowery, R.F.I. Porto, Kevin Powers
The Yellow Birds
Metascore
Mixed or Average
56
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
56
25% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
75% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jun 14, 2018
90
Capped by a truly lovely final shot, The Yellow Birds (the title comes from a particularly cruel Army cadence) is about unseen wounds and wasted lives. The closer we get to these young men, the closer we are to wondering how many more of these stories we can bear to hear.
Jun 14, 2018
70
Making a late appearance in the Iraq War movie cycle, the impressively acted “The Yellow Birds” manages to leave an affecting mark even as it constantly struggles to find a distinctive voice of its own.
Jan 25, 2017
60
Yellow Birds goes heavy on the brooding, and even though a lot of it looks gorgeous and carries the whiff of great importance it is ultimately stunted by a central event that isn’t worth the mystery that surrounds it.
Jun 14, 2018
50
What Moors offers that’s new is a kind of unfolding mystery, as we come to find what really happened to Murphy in the war zone. Too bad that the pacing is botched and that the whole narrative becomes one long dirge of “and then, and then, and then.”
May 29, 2018
50
For all the vivid combat sequences, the gritty adjustment-back-home touches and a couple of genuinely emotional scenes, it feels incomplete, choppy and something of a cheat.
Jan 25, 2017
50
Moors is a filmmaker with immense talent, as demonstrated in his Sundance film Blue Caprice from a few years back, but the beats don’t quite align this time around.
Jan 25, 2017
40
The film keeps acting like it has something big to tell us; it plods and broods with self-importance. Yet in almost every crucial way, The Yellow Birds is a flat and listless piece of moviemaking, a monotonous indie dirge.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
83% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
17% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Aug 16, 2018
7
The methodical pacing here will turn off a lot of viewers, especially those looking for an action packed war movie. This is a cerebral film that can be most difficult to watch at times, but it's an important movie because it illustrates on a very personal level the horrific effects of war on soldiers in the battlefield and upon their return home. The mystery of what happened to one of the soldiers in Iraq slowly unfurls through numerous **** acting all around is A-1.
Production Company:
- Cinelou Films
- Story Mining & Supply Co.
- Echo Films
- Kasbah Films
Release Date:Jun 15, 2018
Duration:1 h 34 m
Rating:R
Tagline:There are moments that test us and choices that define us.
Awards
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
