Ash Wednesday is a 2002 American crime drama film written and directed by Edward Burns.

[1] The film is set in the early 1980s in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood and tells the story of a pair of Irish-American brothers who become embroiled in a conflict with the Irish mob.

In Hell's Kitchen on Ash Wednesday in 1983, rumors are spreading that Francis Sullivan's (Edward Burns) younger brother Sean (Elijah Wood), who has been presumed dead for three years, has reappeared.

The film closes with Francis wiping the cross of ashes from his forehead before stepping outside the pub and being killed by a gunshot.

[2] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 40 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.