Alden Ehrenreich Leads a Top-Notch Cast in First Trailer for Iraq War Drama The Yellow Birds

Alden Ehrenreich, Tye Sheridan, Toni Collette and Jennifer Aniston star in this gripping and intense Iraq War drama one critic calls this year’s The Hurt Locker. The Yellow Birds’ logline reads (according to IMDb), “Two young soldiers, Bartle (Ehrenreich) and Murph (Sheridan), navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling (Jack Huston). All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph’s mother (Aniston) before their deployment.”

Based on a novel by Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds’ story was adapted for the screen by A Ghost Story’s David Lowery and R.F.I. Porto. Jeffrey Sharpe, Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon are the producers, with Aniston and Lowery serving as executive producers. Alexandre Moors directs the film.

Ehrenreich got his big break in the Coen Brothers’ Hail Caesar in 2016 and since has starred in Rules Don’t Apply with Lily Collins. He can be seen in the forthcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story playing the young Han Solo, which premieres at Cannes this year.

Sheridan is just coming off his breakthrough in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One opposite Thoroughbreds’ Olivia Cooke. Sheridan will star in the long-delayed X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Collette is already garnering Oscar buzz with her performance in the Sundance shocker Hereditary, whose terrifying trailer you can catch here. Aniston is currently about to work on a Reese Witherspoon-developed morning show drama for Apple.

The Yellow Birds made its debut at Sundance last year and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. It also won a special award for cinematography. As you can see in the trailer below, the film looks impeccably shot. The Yellow Birds debuts exclusively on DIRECTV on May 17 before flying into theaters and on-demand June 15.