Death of a Yellow Bird (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

A terminally ill man returns to his childhood home seeking closure, only to uncover an old family video camera and a tape that carries something far more disturbing than memories. Death of a Yellow Bird is a 2026 Canadian supernatural horror film written and directed by Cody Calahan.

Death of a Yellow Bird centers on a return home that quickly takes on an unsettling supernatural dimension. The film follows a terminally ill man as he searches for closure in the place where he grew up.

His discovery of a long-lost VHS camera opens a connection to the past through a collection of home movies. As the footage plays, something disturbing begins to emerge through the static, turning a personal recovery into a horror story.

Death of a Yellow Bird movie details

Story without spoilers

The film follows a terminally ill man who comes back to his childhood home in search of closure. While there, he finds the family’s long-missing VHS camera buried in the earth. A videotape inside contains home movies, but the recordings are not simply a record of family life: as he watches, an unsettling presence appears to bleed through the static.

The premise places personal history, an isolated home and supernatural horror at the center of the story without revealing what the videotape contains or how its disturbing influence unfolds.

What to expect

Death of a Yellow Bird is identified as a supernatural horror film, with its premise built around a childhood home, a buried VHS camera and unsettling home-video footage. The story suggests a contained atmosphere shaped by family memories, isolation and the threatening ambiguity of something emerging from damaged recordings.

Its horror setup is rooted in the contrast between familiar domestic images and the disturbing material that begins to surface within them. The available synopsis does not disclose the nature of the presence, the film’s ending or specific scare sequences.

Cast and creative team

Cody Calahan is credited as both director and writer of Death of a Yellow Bird. Ari Millen is listed in the cast. No character name is supplied for Millen’s role.

• Ari Millen

Release and production context

Death of a Yellow Bird is a 2026 Canadian production from Black Fawn Films. It is in English and has a runtime of 1 hour and 33 minutes. The supplied release date is September 17, 2026, and the film is listed as released.

Production companies: Black Fawn Films

Death of a Yellow Bird official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

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With its focus on a buried camera and disturbing footage, Death of a Yellow Bird frames supernatural horror through the uneasy return of family memories. Its concise 93-minute runtime and single-location-style premise point to a focused story built around what the old tape reveals, while the available details leave the central mystery intact.

Film data:
TMDB