Synopsis
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors 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.
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Cast
- Tye SheridanDaniel Murphy
- Alden EhrenreichBrandon Bartle
- Jennifer AnistonMaureen Murphy
- Jack HustonSergeant Sterling
- Jason PatricCaptain Anderson
- Toni ColletteAmy Bartle
- Lee TergesenJim Murphy
- Aylin TezelClaudia
- Olivia CrocicchiaTess
- Carrie WamplerJenny Smith
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
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. - 80
Screen Daily
The Yellow Birds is a war movie whose outlines may be familiar — but its emotional clarity gives this drama an almost crushing sense of intimacy. - 60
The Guardian
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. - 50
The Film Stage
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. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
An excellent novel about the Iraq War and its homefront fallout has been turned into a rather flat and disappointing film in The Yellow Birds. - 50
The Playlist
There are elements of “The Yellow Birds” that should equate to a unique cinematic experience. Unfortunately, like Bartle’s return home, you leave the theater somewhat dazed, confused and thinking of what went wrong. - 50
Movie Nation
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. - 50
Slant Magazine
You may want for something to hold on to, but Tye Sheridan and Alden Ehrenreich slip through the fingers, both seeming uninterested and restless to move on to other projects.
