Alden Ehrenreich is turning the camera lens on the pitfalls of celebrity.
The “Fair Play” and “Solo” actor makes his directorial debut with “Shadow Brother Sunday,” a short film set to premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Festival. Ehrenreich also wrote the short, which centers on a down-on-his-luck musician returning home on the day of his younger brother’s movie premiere to steal his computer and sell it to the paparazzi. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, in the video above.
Nick Robinson stars as the high-profile brother, with Francis Ford Coppola executive producing. Ehrenreich made his feature acting debut in Coppola’s “Tetro” and went on to appear in the Oscar winner’s “Twixt.” The cast of “Shadow Brother Sunday” also includes Ana Auther, Lisa Edelstein, Elizabeth Guest, Nick Searcy, Ayah Weitz, and Jacob Wysocki.
Ehrenreich isn’t the only A-lister behind a family-centric short film at Tribeca: Best Actor winner and “CODA” star Troy Kotsur explores his own real-life family ties with the documentary short “To My Father,” directed by Sean Schiavolin, while Tom Holland leads mother-son drama “Last Call,” which is helmed by his brother Harry Holland.
This has been a big year for Ehrenreich. He appeared in box-office success “Cocaine Bear” and particularly made waves at Sundance with Chloe Domont’s breakout psychosexual feature “Fair Play,” which was purchased by Netflix in a staggering $20 million deal. Ehrenreich told IndieWire back at Sundance that he was drawn to the “nuanced and complex and thoroughly written” character, opposite co-star Phoebe Dynevor.
“You’re very fortunate to get a quality of writing, to get to play characters that are this nuanced and complex and thoroughly written, but really at the end of the day, who you’re doing it with is everything. The fact that Phoebe and I got along the way we did and felt compatible in that way was really great, and rehearsal is just the thing that I’m shocked [is] not done more, and that it’s not studied as a craft in and of itself more. Especially with films about relationships,” Ehrenreich said. “When the firing squad comes in to film the movie, you have that ensemble built. It means everything, and you’re able to be more vulnerable and feel safer.”
In addition to “Shadow Brother Sunday,” Ehrenreich can soon be seen in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated period piece “Oppenheimer” and Disney+’s Marvel limited series “Ironheart.”
“Shadow Brother Sunday” premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 9.
IndieWire also shares the poster for the film, with original artwork by Ehrenreich and graphic design by Emma Berliner.
