Ethan Hawke hauls gold for Russell Crowe's warden in The Weight, out now with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes
Padraic McKinley’s Depression-era survival thriller premiered at Sundance and opened in UK cinemas on 18 September, with Julia Jones and Austin Amelio.
If you fancy a bit of bleak, historical grit with your cinema trips, here's one to mark on the calendar: The Weight lands in UK cinemas this week, so if you're in the mood for Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke staring each other down in the wilderness, you're sorted.
The Weight debuts in cinemas 18 September 2026 after previously premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Prison Break, But Make It the Depression
This one drops us right in the thick of the Great Depression — and not the glitzy Hollywood vision either. Ethan Hawke stars as Samuel Murphy, a single dad landed in a labour camp, torn away from his daughter while paying his debt to society (or at least to the warden's idea of it).
Enter Warden Clancy, played by Russell Crowe, who offers Samuel a way out that definitely doesn’t involve good behaviour or early parole. The pitch? Help move a haul of gold from a back-of-beyond mine, straight through the wilds of Oregon, with a handful of fellow inmates for company. Not exactly a Sunday stroll, but when the carrot is a shot at going home to his kid, Samuel's in.
The Cast & Crew Line-Up
- Ethan Hawke as Samuel Murphy
- Russell Crowe as Warden Clancy
- Julia Jones
- Austin Amelio
- Avi Nash
- Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen
- Avy Berry
Pretty solid ensemble for anything calling itself a survival thriller. The film's directed by Padraic McKinley, working from a script penned by Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines. On the production side you’ve got Simon Fields, Nathan Field, Ryan Hawke, Jonas Katzenstein, and Maximilian Leo running the show.
A Tough Journey (And Not Just the Landscape)
It's not just the Oregon backcountry that stands in the way. The prisoners and their guards face all the usual suspects: rough terrain, knackered bodies, and a healthy dose of mutual mistrust. With a stash of gold in the mix, expect tensions to spiral — and it goes without saying that not everyone’s only thinking about redemption.
The whole thing ends up less about the treasure and more about Samuel's desperate attempt to get back to his daughter, making the escape as much about second chances as it is about grabbing freedom at any cost.
Early Critical Buzz
Already, The Weight is turning heads — it picked up some proper heat at Sundance and, going by current figures, is sitting on a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critic score off 69 reviews. Not bad at all, given how grimy and unfashionable Depression-era dramas can be to your average festival crowd.
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