Sundance 2026: Ethan Hawke vs Nature in ‘The Weight’ Superb Thriller

by Alex Billington
February 3, 2026

That’s how you do it! This is how you make a rip-roaring survival thriller in modern times! This is how you keep modern audiences engaged and on the edge of their seat excited for what’s going to come next! This is just the kind of movie I love experiencing without knowing a single thing about it beforehand. The Weight is one of the best films from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival – an instant favorite that’ll probably remain somewhere on my Top 20 list by the end of the year. It’s the first feature directed by Padraic McKinley, who has been working for years as an editor on various films & TV series, and also directing for TV including episodes of “Kingdom”. After making this, I’m sure the doors will be wide open for him to make whatever he wants next. He has proven himself to be quite a competent director, one might even say he’s got the chops for serious action & intensity and could handle a massive action movie. Until then, The Weight is a superbly entertaining, awesome thriller set in the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest. And it deserves to be talked about, watched & rewatched, and heralded as a big breakout hit beyond the festival. It rocks and I loved it.

The Weight has a screenplay written by Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman, and Shelby Gaines; from a story by Leo Scherman. It’s directed by Padraic McKinley as his feature directorial debut, and McKinley also co-edited the film (with Matthew Woolley). While it isn’t explicitly credited this way, The Weight is essentially a remake of William Friedkin’s classic Sorcerer (which is itself based on the French novel “The Wages of Fear”). This film does some different things and doesn’t start or end the same way, but nonetheless it’s an obvious homage and tribute to Sorcerer, featuring its own iconic bridge scene with four guys transporting dangerous goods across hostile terrain. Ethan Hawke stars as Samuel Murphy, a handyman dad trying to take care of his young daughter during the brutal Great Depression in the early 1930s. When he’s caught by coppers he ends up in a prison camp working hard labor. An opportunity arises for an early release – as long as he (and his 3 comrades) can transport a hefty amount of gold in their backpacks across rough terrain to another pickup point before anything else happens to it. Turns out that this Murphy has some special skills and can handle pretty much anything. Which is one of many reasons why it’s so exciting to watch it play out.

Watching this movie in the cinema at Sundance was the most edge-of-your-seat intense experience I’ve had since watching Sirat in Cannes last year (also totally awesome). My initial reaction instant comparison is to call it Sisu meets Sorcerer by way of the Pacific Northwest. With maybe only a few minor flaws, from start to finish this rocked my socks off. Ethan Hawke absolutely rules in this as our main man Murphy. Maybe even one of my favorite Hawke performances ever? The cinematography & score are dynamite! I could go on and on raving about how it’s all composed and crafted perfectly – kind of like last year’s Sundance PNW film Train Dreams. (Though they look nothing alike.) It’s gritty & dynamic & thrilling, very tactile in every sense, with some clever modern social commentary worked into the script beyond all the wilderness survival. One helluva good cast. Incredible forest set pieces – a number of scenes that will get your hear tracing. Gorgeous slow fades galore. Perfectly composed shots non-stop (from Italian DP Matteo Cocco). And the score, THE SCORE, I was levitating listening to it roar up in certain scenes. Play it LOUD! Guitar vibes in addition to intense melodies. Composers Latham Gaines & Shelby Gaines deserves acclaim for their work on this.

This will ruffle some feathers and rattle plenty of cages – but I have to admin I think this Sorcerer remake is better than the original Sorcerer. It works better for me and feels much more rewatchable and vivid. But I’m not the biggest fan of Friedkin’s Sorcerer to begin with, so I’m not bothered making this claim, and because they’re so similar it’s impossible not to compare. The Weight is everything one could want within a gripping survival thriller – even with well-defined characters & strong performance. It’s one of these movies I could literally walk right back into the theater and watch again right away and still enjoy as much as this first time around. On that note, I can’t wait to find out when I’m going back just to experience the thrill all over again.

Alex’s Sundance 2026 Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing

Find more posts in: Review, Sundance 26