Weight (2026 | US | 115 mins | Padraic McKinley)
Set during the great depression, dry earth covering everything, near starvation plaguing more people than it isn’t, and no end it sight leaves Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) and his young whip smart and headstrong daughter Penny (Avy Berry) in dire straights. In a manner of seconds their lives take a nose dive as he throws punches to protect her from predators, but the assault lands him in prison. Promising to be back for her, he takes on any opportunity to lessen his sentence. Time is of the essence, so when the warden of his prison-work camp offers a way to freedom within a week he jumps at it knowing full well it could be life threatening. The warden’s shady friend needs gold transported to a safe hiding place before the government starts collecting all mined gold for the benefit of all. The burden of responsibility is as hefty as the gold he carries on his back. During the arduous and perilous journey he uses his street smarts and whit in an attempt to stay alive long enough to keep his promise to return to Penny.
Being a Padraic McKinley joint complete tracks, the grittiness, danger around every corner, goodnatured bad guy kind of vibe runs like a river right through the storyline. Just as I have for the last decade, anytime Hawke has a lead role (or even supporting) I’m enthralled by his performance. Considering the soft, shy demeanor he portrayed in his youth, it’s rewarding to see someone show such depth where that soft shy-like character is still in there somewhere, but so is power, control and self-assurance.
Something I sort of struggled with are the squirm-worthy scenes. I don’t always do well with torture and quietly dealing with intense pain 90% of the population would pass out from, so there were several scenes I had to avert my gaze. That doesn’t mean it it was added for simple effect, I’d argue almost none of the story veered off just because… it had a purpose even if just to offer more insight into the secondary characters. Just be aware and don’t let it deter you.
Spoiler ahead, so maybe jump to the next paragraph if you want to avoid… My immediate reaction from the get go was “I know exactly what’s going to happen even though I don’t know what’s going to happen.” There’s almost no way the protagonist and his adorable daughter won’t survive and be reunited. He’ll probably get caught in a bunch of bad situations and you might even think he’ll die, but he won’t. Something might (no, probably will) happen to others to add intensity and sense of imminent danger, but not to our guy. Think a far more serious and far less cheesy ConAir and you’re pretty close. It may sound like I’m bagging on the film, but I’m not. I genuinely liked it despite the predictability, mostly thanks to the acting. There are moments when you just want to watch a film that isn’t as complicated as real life. Things just work out and everyone lives happily ever after(ish).
The highlight for me beyond Hawke’s performance was Julia Jones’ Anna. A fierceness bubbling below the surface and ready to pounce at the slightest provocation she is self-possessed out of necessity. Either take care of yourself, sometimes with any means necessary, or die in a country dominated by white men and very few laws keeping them from destroying her. Escaping an untenable situation she comes upon the crew of convicts and insinuates herself to join them on their journey. Her part may have been smaller but her presence wasn’t.
I absolutely felt a weight on my heart throughout the film and at times it was almost overwhelming (you could say I engage pretty deeply when I am immersed in a film), but as the credits rolled I lifted that weight off my chest and glad I’d stuck with it. You might need to be a neutral state of mind to watch it and maybe do a little joyful prep so it won’t drag you down, but Weight is worth carrying for a couple hours.
Weight arrives in theaters on Friday 9/18