"The Weight" REVIEW

Published on 9/25/2026 

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

Directed by: Padraic McKinley 

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, etc. 

Plot: Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression, a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness. 

REVIEW 

Gruff and thrilling, Padraic McKinley's "The Weight" isn't just a great star-vehicle for a commanding physical performance from Ethan Hawke, it's an easy-to-digest, well-crafted film with more than its fair share of grit that dads across the world won't be able to hide their excitement for, watching the film as all fathers or men above the age of forty do, standing up behind the couch with their arms crossed. Right off the bat, this film doesn't waste time in setting the stakes high. Their father/daughter bond is smartly focused on for the first fifteen or so minutes, and when that's ripped away from us, we're just as determined as Hawke's character is to reunite with his daughter before it's too late. Much of the film takes place in the wilderness, playing into the treacherous unpredictability of nature as a character in and of itself. It's very much drinking from the well of "Sorcerer" and "The Wages of Fear", which is a damn good well to sip from if you're going to. "The Weight" is a solid, engaging film. 

THREE BEST ELEMENTS

• Ethan Hawke's performance. Hawke is one of all-time favorite actors. I adore his versatility in acting range, concentration of the type of roles/projects he selects, and his screen presence. I mention this because if you're fan of Hawke like myself, I'm willing to bet you'll love not just his performance, but this film as a whole. Hawke makes the film, he carries the weight. That was a pun. See what I did there? Hawke delivers a performance of dedicated physicality and emotion. Great work. 

• The score. Distinct in its forms of building tension and maintaining that tension. A welcomingly familiar, yet unqiue sound. Latham and Shelby Gaines knocked it out of the park with this score. I loved their score for Ethan Hawke's "Wildcat" as well. They are composers I'm excited to follow as their filmography grows. 

• The direction. I was prepared to say that I wasn't familiar with McKinley's past work but I was already impressed, until upon a quick Letterboxd search I learned that this was his feature length debut—so color me even more impressed with his tense, strong handed direction. 

WORST ELEMENT 

• The ending was a little too cut and dry for me. 

RATING

7/10

You should watch it, buddy!