One of the highlights to emerge from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Padraic McKinley’s The Weight, a period thriller that brings together Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, and Sam Hazeldine on a treacherous journey. Ahead of a September 18 release from Vertical, the first trailer has now arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “In Oregon in 1933, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he’ll go to see his child again.”
Kent M. Wilhelm said in his Sundance review, “McKinley’s intense and, at times, brutal thriller is crowd-pleasing without being pandering. He melds a winning premise, breathless sequences, and lush photography with the right cast to draw you into the treacherous journey. The Weight borrows from action-adventure films like Cliffhanger and Indiana Jones, but possesses a more thoughtful soul—one hand on its heart, the other on a blade.”
See the trailer below.
