The Weight
2017movie
Emma attempts to hide the details of a painful past when it comes to light that her boyfriend misremembers how they first met. When the truth is revealed, the two must figure out how to move forward.
Emma attempts to hide the details of a painful past when it comes to light that her boyfriend misremembers how they first met. When the truth is revealed, the two must figure out how to move forward.
THE WEIGHT Section: Premieres Director: Padraic McKinley Screenwriter: Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman and Shelby Gaines Logline: In Oregon in 1933, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through the deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions just how far he’s prepared to go.
Padraic McKinley’s The Weight is a Depression-era thriller about a group of prisoners who must transport backpacks full of gold bars through the forests of Oregon. That may not sound all that dramatic, but McKinley establishes just the right amount of physical and emotional stakes, and a cast led by Ethan Hawke infuses the drama with believable camaraderie, conflict, and tension. It’s the kind of atmospheric, exciting period drama we don’t really get much anymore.
