• About AwardsDaily
  • Sasha Stone
  • Advertising on Awards Daily
Awards Daily
  • 2026 Oscar Predictions
  • 2025/2026 Awards Calendar
  • EmmyWatch
  • Buzzmeter
  • NextGen Oscarwatcher
No Result
View All Result
  • 2026 Oscar Predictions
  • 2025/2026 Awards Calendar
  • EmmyWatch
  • Buzzmeter
  • NextGen Oscarwatcher
No Result
View All Result
Awards Daily
No Result
View All Result

Shorts: ‘Shadow Brother Sunday’ Confronts Brotherly Love and Familial Frustration

Alden Ehrenreich makes an impressive directorial debut.

Joey Moser by Joey Moser
November 6, 2023
in LIVE ACTION SHORTS, SHORTS
0
Shorts: ‘Shadow Brother Sunday’ Confronts Brotherly Love and Familial Frustration

When the camera is on Alden Ehrenreich’s face during Shadow Brother Sunday, you can almost smell the sweat. Whether it’s the gaze from his family or us the viewer, his character, Cole, can feel the eyes on him, and his refusal to remove his large, worn jacket isn’t help to dispel his perspiration or lessen his anxiety. In an impressive and ground directorial debut, Ehrenreich explores how a family’s praise of a younger son adds weight onto the heart of the eldest son. Shadow Brother Sunday‘s sneaky emotions flourish when you least expect.

Cole is a stranger inside his parents’ house as they await the arrival of his younger brother, Jacob (played by Nick Robinson), a rising film star. The home feels like a nightmare for anyone who has the slightest bit of anxiety as family members run about and knock into each other, their excitement for Jacob’s arrival getting the better of them. Cole’s financial woes are pressing on him so much that he is considering an act of betrayal: the paparazzi are promising a large sum of money is Cole can steal his brother’s laptop.

The only moments of shared peace come when Cole finds Jacob in his old room. Quietness and calm is something that both of these young men value, but Cole’s desperation for cash might break something between them. This short scene–the only one Ehrenreich and Robinson share together–feels valuable and constructed with care. Cole and Jacob are more alike than the other might be able to admit or realize as they both seek solitude to center themselves. Jacob might have frustrations with his family, but Cole’s lack of direction causes more vocal ire.

Ehrenreich, with his scraggly, unruly beard, plays a man drowning by his own hand, and I guarantee that you have a Cole in your life. He has been given so many chances yet his life knows almost no calm, but Jacob offers a kind of brotherly serenity. As a director, Ehrenreich locks the camera in on his own character to make us feel that sweat even more. Even when Cole steps out for a smoke break early on, we never lose the sense that he never feels fully alone. Was Cole a kid whose parents never trusted him? Was he a troublemaker that never felt the harshness of the consequences for his own actions and now he flounders as an adult? Ehrenreich does not shy away from the profound sadness of characters who are either too scared or unaware to ask for help.

Shadow Brother Sunday is deftly directed with climbing tension and strong performances. If this is how Ehrenreich kicks off his directorial career, we are in great hands.

Tags: Alden EhrenreichShadow Brother Sunday
Previous Post

‘Thunder’ Director Carmen Jaquier On Her Bold, Surprising International Oscar Submission [VIDEO]

Next Post

Shorts: Director Sabina Vajrača On the Choice Between Fear and Love for Short Film ‘Sevap/Mitzvah’

Next Post
Shorts: Director Sabina Vajrača On the Choice Between Fear and Love for Short Film ‘Sevap/Mitzvah’

Shorts: Director Sabina Vajrača On the Choice Between Fear and Love for Short Film 'Sevap/Mitzvah'

The Great Diane Keaton Passes On … Leaving a Legacy to Treasure
Obits

The Great Diane Keaton Passes On … Leaving a Legacy to Treasure

by Sasha Stone
October 11, 2025
34

I don't even know how to begin to write about someone I loved so much as Diane Keaton. I wouldn't...

2026 Oscar Predictions: Shakespeare’s Prophecy

2026 Oscar Predictions: Shakespeare’s Prophecy

October 10, 2025
2026 Oscars: Best Actress [POLL] Chase Infinity to Campaign in Lead

2026 Oscars: Best Actress [POLL] Chase Infinity to Campaign in Lead

October 11, 2025
Oscar Podcast: Frontrunners and Challengers Episode 2 with Mark Johnson

2026 Oscars: Frontrunners and Challengers Podcast Episode 4

October 8, 2025
Best Actor Watch: Timothée Chalamet Wows in Marty Supreme

Best Actor Watch: Timothée Chalamet Wows in Marty Supreme

October 8, 2025
International Feature Watch: Trailer for No Other Choice Drops

International Feature Watch: Trailer for No Other Choice Drops

October 8, 2025
Artios Announces Casting Nominations for Theater, Short Film and Series Nominations

Artios Announces Casting Nominations for Theater, Short Film and Series Nominations

October 8, 2025
Let’s Talk Cinema: The 2000s

Let’s Talk Cinema: The 2000s

October 8, 2025
2026 Oscars: ‘One Battle’ Set to Sweep Oscars, But How Many Can it Win?

2026 Oscars: ‘One Battle’ Set to Sweep Oscars, But How Many Can it Win?

October 7, 2025
Nextgen Oscarwatcher: Best Supporting Actor and “Category Placement”

Nextgen Oscarwatcher: Best Supporting Actor and “Category Placement”

October 6, 2025

Oscar News

2026 Oscars —  Best Director: There is Ryan Coogler and Everyone Else

2026 Oscars — Best Director: There is Ryan Coogler and Everyone Else

September 23, 2025

2026 Oscars: What Five Best Actor Contenders Will Get Nominated? [POLL]

“Politically Charged” One Battle After Another Dazzles Crowds at Early Screenings

2026 Oscars: The Themes That Will Drive This Year’s Best Picture Race

The Buzzmeter: Can Brad Pitt’s and F1 Invite the Public Back to the Oscars?

2026 Oscars: Neon Nails it Again with Sentimental Value at Cannes

EmmyWatch

CBS Finally Ends the Stephen Colbert Show

CBS Finally Ends the Stephen Colbert Show

July 18, 2025

The Gotham TV Winners Set the Consensus to Come

Gothams Announces Television Nominees

White Lotus Finale – A Deeply Profound Message for a Weary World

  • About AwardsDaily
  • Sasha Stone
  • Advertising on Awards Daily

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • About AwardsDaily
  • Sasha Stone
  • Advertising on Awards Daily

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.