'The Yellow Birds' is Kevin Powers' stark and poignant narrative of two young American soldiers, Private Bartle and Private Murphy, trapped in the horrors of the Iraq War. As the platoon battles for the control of the city of Al Tafar, these men face the relentless onslaught of insurgent attacks, grueling physical demands, and a constant psychological siege. Their reality warps under the strain of combat, with Murphy's grip on the world loosening and Bartle taking desperate measures. Bonded by a promise made in training, their story is one of fierce loyalty, the cost of broken vows, and the painful search for meaning amid the chaos of war. Powers presents a meditation on the brutal impact of combat on the human soul, illustrating the inescapable bond formed in extreme circumstances, and the personal and familial devastation that follows soldiers home.