‘The Weight’ review: Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe expertly carry tense, effective 1930s survival tale

Dir: Padraic McKinley. Germany/US. 2026. 112mins

Not just set in the past but proudly recalling the character-driven action-dramas of yesteryear, The Weight features one of Ethan Hawke’s most muscular, grizzled performances. Set in 1933, the film follows an unjustly incarcerated widower as he signs up for a secret mission to transport gold across the dangerous Oregon wilderness. Padraic McKinley’s feature directorial debut is a hugely confident survivalist tale that’s as bluntly effective as the primitive weapons employed in this bare-knuckle saga.

 Filled with savvy individuals and memorable set pieces

The Weight debuts in Sundance’s Premieres section, and it could be an attractive proposition for adult audiences craving a well-made picture filled with savvy individuals and memorable set pieces. Hawke is joined by Russell Crowe and a formidable ensemble that effortlessly portrays these stoic characters who have learned that their hardscrabble lives offer nothing more than disappointment.

At the height of the Great Depression, Murphy (Hawke) is raising his daughter Penny (Avy Berry) alone when he’s wrongfully imprisoned and forced to work in a labor camp in the forests of Oregon. Earning the respect of the vengeful warden Clancy (Crowe), Murphy receives an offer to take part in an unusual assignment: Clancy needs Murphy and a few other inmates to move a mine’s collection of gold on foot before local thieves attack the compound. If Murphy succeeds, he will be a free man. The path through the thick woods will be arduous, however, and Murphy and his fellow prisoners are closely monitored by well-armed guards, including the sadistic Amis (Sam Hazeldine).

The film’s title refers to the heavy backpacks filled with gold that Murphy and his team must carry on the journey. But it’s also an apt description of The Weight’s pitiless tone, portraying Murphy’s mission as a rugged battle to stay alive. Crossing rickety rope bridges suspended perilously high above the ground, braving raging rivers and fending off bloodthirsty crooks, Murphy embarks on a quest as gruelling as anything experienced in such classics as The Wages Of Fear – all the while wondering if Amis and the other guards will arbitrarily kill the inmates at a moment’s notice. Latham Gaines and Shelby Gaines’ clattering, propulsive score only adds to the tension and adrenaline as Murphy faces on dilemma after another.

A longtime editor (including on Hawke’s Showtime series The Good Lord Bird) McKinley demonstrates a knack for staging stripped-down action sequences. Cinematographer Matteo Cocco does an excellent job transforming the Bavarian locales into the foggy, untamed wilderness of the American West from a century ago, while McKinley deftly balances the tense set pieces with more intimate scenes in which the prisoners and guards navigate an uneasy truce. The Weight consistently emphasises the human stakes, and in due course we will come to know many of the characters around Murphy — in particular, the thoughtful inmate Singh (Avi Nash) and Anna (Julia Jones), an Indigenous cook who joins their crew and proves to be a resourceful fighter.

Hawke affects a low, growly voice that suggests a beaten-down war veteran who wants nothing more than to be reunited with his child. We discover just enough about Murphy before his incarceration — the police erroneously believed this penniless father was trying to break into a property — to sympathise with his hard-luck existence and root for him to get out of this ordeal alive. The softly-spoken, sensitive Murphy makes several clever, quick-witted decisions during the journey, and Hawke slowly reveals the character’s heroism and decency. Eventually, Murphy and Anna will develop a bond, and Hawke and Jones create a rapport that transcends simple romantic attraction to arrive at somewhere deeper and tenderer, suggesting that they recognise in each other a fellow wounded soul.

Crowe can sometimes be hammy in supporting roles, but his Clancy is a tightly focussed creation as the Oscar-winning actor highlights this villain’s casual cruelty. The Weight avoids profound themes, preferring to craft a nearly Biblical tale of good and evil that plays out over several treacherous days in the woods. Hawke and his castmates play their elemental characters as if they have been carved out of the mountains that line the forest, making them feel like potent archetypes seeking riches or freedom — or both.