Now that the summer movie season is nearly over, the time for awards season fare has begun to loom at the box office, as epic blockbusters take a back seat to more character-driven titles. Although there are still plenty of large-scale projects on the way, such as Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil in a week and Avengers: Doomsday in December, there are also smaller films to look forward to. One example is a new adventure thriller starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe that has just received its latest wave of online reviews.
Even though the movie isn’t due for release until Sept. 18, the newest reviews for The Weight have begun to pour in. While most studios wait until the day before release to allow reviews, the fact that critics have started praising The Weight should be a testament to its quality. The synopsis describes the feature as a desperate father (Hawke) who, after being arrested, strikes a deal with prison warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) to smuggle a fortune’s worth of gold across the wilderness.
At the time of this writing, The Weight holds a sturdy 93% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 40 reviews. The action thriller still isn’t at the “certified fresh” rating, but it won’t be surprising if The Weight keeps a 90% or higher score by the time it becomes certified. While there is plenty of praise for the acting, an equal amount of credit is being given to Padraic McKinley’s direction, an impressive feat considering it is his feature directorial debut after plenty of television credits as a producer and occasional director.
The marketing and trailers have leaned heavily on the actors’ star power, and if the early reviews are any indication, they don’t disappoint. A positive review on Blu-Ray.com calls The Weight “a riveting” thriller that is “superbly performed by the cast.” Geek Vibes Nation says Ethan Hawke lifts the film up on his shoulders, declaring that the actor “gives this gritty heist thriller mettle in its bones.” Given the intense nature of the premise, it is no surprise The Weight is elevated by an actor as dedicated as Hawke.
Given the desperation at the end of the story, it is unsurprising that Movie Madness Podcast‘s review compared The Weight to William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, which followed a group of expatriates driving trucks filled with unstable dynamite across a treacherous jungle. Overall, The Weight seems to use Hawke and Crowe to tell a devastating story of survival, making it one of the must-see movies of the fall. It will be interesting to see how it performs at the box office, especially since it will be going up against a heavy hitter in Resident Evil that same weekend.
- Release Date
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September 18, 2026
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Padraic McKinley
- Writers
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Matthew Chapman, Shelby Gaines, Matthew Booi
- Producers
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Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Nathan Fields, Ryan Hawke, Simon Fields
