WEIGHT, THE

(director: Padraic McKinley; screenwriters: Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman, Shelby Gaines; story by Matthew Booi, Leo Scherman; cinematographer: Matteo Cocco; editors: Padraic McKinley, Matthew Woolley; music: Latham Gaines, Shelby Gaines; cast: Ethan Hawke (Samuel Murphy), Russell Crowe (Clancy), Julia Jones (Anna, Native American woman), Austin Amelio (Rankin), Avi Nash (Singh), Lucas Lyggaard Tonnesen (Olson), Sam Hazeldine (Amis), Peter Lewys Preston (Akers), Avy Berry (Penny), George Burgess (Lefender); Runtime: 112; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Simon Fields, Nathan Fields, Ryan Hawke, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo; Mubi,A24, Fields Entertainment; 2026-Canada/USA/Germany)

“A gripping indie thriller.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

American filmmaker Padraic McKinley’s first feature film is a gripping indie thriller filmed in Munich on a low budget.

In Oregon, in 1933, the Great Depression is in full swing. The single father, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke), is unjustly arrested for defending his 7-year-old daughter Penny (Avy Berry) from cops who get out-of-line with her when he’s evicted from his tenement living quarters. He’s sent to a brutal prison work camp run by the hard-nosed duplicitous warden Clancy (Russell Crowe), as Penny becomes a ward of the state and is placed in a group home.

Clancy is holding stolen gold bars for associates in the camp mine that he wants transferred to a safer spot and recruits Murphy as the leader to secretly move the heavy gold bars over some rugged wilderness terrain to a secret location 6 days away. Murphy chooses as crew his fellow inmates — the dark-skinned socialist Singh (Avi Nash), the vocal bigot asshole Rankin (Austin Amelio), and his loyal supporters Olson (Lucas Lyggaard Tonnesen) and Amis (Sam Hazeldine). They are guarded by a pair of well-armed lawmen. Murphy takes the smuggling job because it will allow him to see his daughter and try to get her back when his sentence is commuted as promised by Clancy if the gold is successfully transferred.

The group is later joined by a feisty Native American, Anna (Julia Jones), running away from an abusive training school program, who is at first not wanted but later will prove to be useful.

The gritty atmospheric adventure film reminded me of Friedkin’s great thriller “Sorcerer” (1977).

It played at the Sundance Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 2/14/2026  GRADE: B+
dennisschwartzreviews.com