Enter a Rotten Tomatoes movie slug to inspect the stored movie, batches, snapshots, and reviews.
Movie ID: 1175
RT slug: the_weight_2026
RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_weight_2026
Release year: 2026
Runtime: 115 mins
Wide release date: 2026-09-18
Limited release date: —
Festival premiere date: —
Streaming release date: —
Tomatometer final: 94%
Audience score final: —
Genres: Drama, History
Directors: Padraic McKinley
Writers: Matthew Chapman, Shelby Gaines
Producers: Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Nathan Fields, Ryan Hawke, Simon Fields
MPAA rating: —
Executive Producers: —
Created: 2026-08-15 12:42:44
Updated: 2026-08-15 12:42:44
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.
The Weight turns a stripped-down tale of desperation into a gripping, hard-hitting thriller, elevated by Ethan Hawke's magnetic performance and Padraic McKinley's assured direction.
Canonical reviews: 35
Canonical fresh: 33
Canonical rotten: 2
Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 94%
Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-08-15 10:59:40
Snapshot Tomatometer: 94%
Snapshot review count: 35
Snapshot fresh count: 33
Snapshot rotten count: 2
Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #2809 (full_snapshot)
| Company | Role |
|---|---|
| Vertical | distributor |
| Augenschein Filmproduktion | production |
| Fields Entertainment | production |
| Under the Influence | production |
| Billing | Name | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethan Hawke | — |
| 2 | Russell Crowe | — |
| 3 | Julia Jones | — |
| 4 | Austin Amelio | — |
| 5 | Avi Nash | — |
| Batch ID | Status | Mode | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1191 | processed | — | 2026-08-15 12:42:44 | Processed successfully into movie_id=1175 using update_mode=merge_non_empty. |
| Batch ID | Local Snapshot | UTC Snapshot | Entered % | Entered Count | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2809 | 2026-08-15 05:59:00 (America/Panama) | 2026-08-15 10:59:40 | 94% | 35 | processed | Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 35 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=35, fresh=33, rotten=2, tomatometer=94%. Net new reviews added=35, fresh=33, rotten=2. Current canonical totals=35 reviews, 33 fresh, 2 rotten, tomatometer=94% (94.286%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (35). Entered tomatometer matched parsed batch value (94%). |
| ID | Critic | Outlet | Fresh? | Score | RT Time Raw | Approx Published UTC | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 244486 | Sarah Manvel | Movies We Texted About | Fresh | — | 2026-02-27T20:40:37.000Z | 2026-02-27 20:40:37 | Mr. Hawke’s show the whole way through. I’ve written before about how he is the best we currently have at portraying a man in crisis, and The Weight never stops finding startling new ways to trouble him. |
| 244487 | Stephen A. Russell | Time Out | Fresh | — | 2026-02-24T13:03:51.000Z | 2026-02-24 13:03:51 | The Weight is the kind of ragtag, band-against-the-odds adventure that used to fill cinemas back in the day. |
| 244488 | Rosa Parra | The Latino Slant | Fresh | 8/10 | 2026-02-23T03:03:58.000Z | 2026-02-23 03:03:58 | he Weight is a gripping story of a father’s lengths to reach his daughter. Well-acted and beautifully shot, it keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, offering a compelling tale of resilience, survival, and betrayal. |
| 244489 | Luis Martínez | El Mundo (Spain) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2026-02-18T21:53:19.000Z | 2026-02-18 21:53:19 | A film as light and brilliant as it is guilty of melancholy. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 244490 | Brent Hankins | The Lamplight Review | Fresh | 8/10 | 2026-02-17T21:37:43.000Z | 2026-02-17 21:37:43 | Influences notwithstanding, McKinley's film manages to carve out a solid enough identity of its own, thanks in no small part to Hawke's magnetic lead performance. |
| 244491 | Violeta Kovacsics | Otroscines.com | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2026-02-17T19:00:25.000Z | 2026-02-17 19:00:25 | The Weight works by strictly adhering to the structure of escape films, although it fails to develop a truly ensemble portrait or flesh out the characters who travel with the protagonist. [Full review in Spanish] |
| 244492 | William Stottor | Loud and Clear Reviews | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2026-02-17T10:50:15.000Z | 2026-02-17 10:50:15 | A tense thriller with immense atmosphere but slightly underwhelming payoff. |
| 244493 | Rachel Wagner | Rachel's Reviews (YouTube) | Fresh | — | 2026-02-12T03:41:56.000Z | 2026-02-12 03:41:56 | Almost anyone will have a good time with this film. Entertaining, well acted, well filmed. One of my favorites of the festival |
| 244494 | Erik Childress | Movie Madness Podcast | Fresh | 4/4 | 2026-02-09T21:48:52.000Z | 2026-02-09 21:48:52 | Padraic McKinley’s unimpeachably entertaining debut is an adventure that has the tension of Sorcerer with a touch of Southern Comfort led by a never-more-confident Ethan Hawke who just continues to roll through perfectly chosen projects. |
| 244495 | Alex Billington | FirstShowing.net | Fresh | 9.5/10 | 2026-02-07T15:47:22.000Z | 2026-02-07 15:47:22 | The Weight is everything one could want within a gripping survival thriller – even with well-defined characters & strong performance. |
| 244496 | Kent M. Wilhelm | The Film Stage | Fresh | — | 2026-02-04T21:11:19.000Z | 2026-02-04 21:11:19 | McKinley’s intense and, at times, brutal thriller is crowd-pleasing without being pandering. |
| 244497 | James Preston Poole | But Why Tho? | Fresh | 8/10 | 2026-02-04T16:14:57.000Z | 2026-02-04 16:14:57 | The Weight is a blisteringly confident trek through Oregon, where each flirtation with death feels closer than the last, and each cinematic flourish outdoes the last. |
| 244498 | Mel Valentin | ScreenAnarchy | Fresh | — | 2026-02-04T02:46:28.000Z | 2026-02-04 02:46:28 | Not that stories write themselves (they don’t), but leaning into the elemental aspects inherent in the premise can yield remarkably engrossing stories like Padraic McKinley’s feature-length debut. |
| 244499 | Zachary Lee | MovieWeb | Fresh | 4/5 | 2026-02-03T22:07:23.000Z | 2026-02-03 22:07:23 | The film has a singularity of vision and cohesion of form that makes it easy to get immersed in, and uses the natural, sometimes wordless drama of its actors to create relatable characters. |
| 244500 | Carlos Aguilar | The Playlist | Fresh | C | 2026-02-02T22:25:30.000Z | 2026-02-02 22:25:30 | It’s a “dad movie” if there ever was one, with enough set-pieces to feel exciting, a semblance of dramatic complexity (so long as you don’t dig too deep), and acting ranging from proficient to excellent in an impressively photographed package. |
| 244501 | Kevin L. Lee | CBR | Fresh | 9/10 | 2026-02-02T14:41:15.000Z | 2026-02-02 14:41:15 | With stunning cinematography by Matteo Cocco, The Weight strikes a careful balance between admiring the beauty of the wilderness and emphasizing its constant, deadly threat. |
| 244502 | Brian Tallerico | RogerEbert.com | Fresh | — | 2026-01-31T08:10:13.000Z | 2026-01-31 08:10:13 | There are some camera choices that could hamper complete enjoyment by all—including a late-movie fight that’s shot far too close—but the last ten minutes of "The Weight" are as satisfying as anything you’re likely to see this year. |
| 244503 | Anna Miller | Next Best Picture | Fresh | 8/10 | 2026-01-30T21:40:33.000Z | 2026-01-30 21:40:33 | Anchored by Ethan Hawke’s physically demanding and emotionally charged performance, and balancing heartfelt moments with gritty action and punishing scenarios, "The Weight" ultimately completes its mission with confidence and skill. |
| 244504 | Matt Oakes | Silver Screen Riot | Fresh | B+ | 2026-01-30T15:53:17.000Z | 2026-01-30 15:53:17 | A film that drapes a muscular, objective-driven plot over lush period-piece trappings. |
| 244505 | Siddhant Adlakha | IGN Movies | Fresh | 9/10 | 2026-01-30T01:28:49.000Z | 2026-01-30 01:28:49 | A gruff, must-watch Ethan Hawke leads a delightful band of outsiders in The Weight, a Depression-era heist film that oscillates between slow burn drama and nail-biting intensity. |
| 244506 | Ryan Lattanzio | IndieWire | Fresh | C+ | 2026-01-30T01:23:57.000Z | 2026-01-30 01:23:57 | It’s a treat to watch the muscular dynamics and savvy physical particulars of Hawke’s performance. Murphy, like Hawke, is great in a crisis, and “The Weight” could’ve been one without his sturdy, tough-lived performance. |
| 244507 | Bilge Ebiri | New York Magazine/Vulture | Fresh | — | 2026-01-29T19:55:23.000Z | 2026-01-29 19:55:23 | It’s the kind of atmospheric, exciting period drama we don’t really get much anymore. |
| 244508 | Johnny Oleksinski | New York Post | Fresh | 3/4 | 2026-01-29T18:39:10.000Z | 2026-01-29 18:39:10 | Murphy has a solution for seemingly every roadblock, and his “MacGyver” quality keeps him an enigma till the very end. |
| 244509 | Chris Bumbray | JoBlo's Movie Network | Fresh | — | 2026-01-29T18:26:42.000Z | 2026-01-29 18:26:42 | A rock-solid period action flick with a commanding lead from Ethan Hawke |
| 244510 | Abe Friedtanzer | Awards Buzz | Fresh | 8/10 | 2026-01-29T16:06:26.000Z | 2026-01-29 16:06:26 | A well-rounded experience that’s stressful and suspenseful but never too harrowing thanks to a well-written script and solid cast who keep this plot captivating and enthralling from start to finish. |
| 244511 | Karen M. Peterson | AwardsWatch | Fresh | B- | 2026-01-29T00:39:59.000Z | 2026-01-29 00:39:59 | Every aspect of the plot comes from some other story we’ve seen or heard before. We can guess before the journey even begins who won’t make it, who will try to double-cross the others, and who will save the day. |
| 244512 | Chase Hutchinson | TheWrap | Fresh | — | 2026-01-28T22:51:03.000Z | 2026-01-28 22:51:03 | Throughout it all, Hawke is mesmerizing. The action scenes are tense and well-executed, though it’s the way he grounds it that makes you feel every setback. |
| 244513 | Fred Topel | United Press International | Fresh | — | 2026-01-28T20:48:54.000Z | 2026-01-28 20:48:54 | A harrowing thriller. It joins The Wages of Fear and The Revenant amongst great treacherous terrain adventures. |
| 244514 | Benjamin Lee | Guardian | Fresh | 3/5 | 2026-01-28T19:18:01.000Z | 2026-01-28 19:18:01 | It’s carried through by an all-in Hawke who is really put through the wringer, arguably his most physically gruelling role to date, a muscular and entirely persuasive performance that continues his winning streak. |
| 244515 | Travis Hopson | Punch Drunk Critics | Fresh | 4/5 | 2026-01-28T09:07:32.000Z | 2026-01-28 09:07:32 | The Weight is exciting stuff, with Hawke strong in a physically demanding role that he makes look easy. |
| 244516 | Pete Hammond | Deadline Hollywood Daily | Fresh | — | 2026-01-27T18:37:44.000Z | 2026-01-27 18:37:44 | This proves to be the gritty kind of story that is perfect for a revival, and it also marks yet another high point in the career of Ethan Hawke. |
| 244517 | Tim Grierson | Screen International | Fresh | — | 2026-01-27T18:32:48.000Z | 2026-01-27 18:32:48 | Padraic McKinley’s feature directorial debut is a hugely confident survivalist tale that’s as bluntly effective as the primitive weapons employed in this bare-knuckle saga. |
| 244518 | Peter Debruge | Variety | Fresh | — | 2026-01-27T18:24:19.000Z | 2026-01-27 18:24:19 | In the past, Hawke often played characters who were shy, scruffy and slightly unsure of themselves, but here he’s the film’s proactive problem solver -- a classical hero more than capable of carrying the film. |
| 244519 | David Rooney | The Hollywood Reporter | Rotten | — | 2026-01-27T17:44:25.000Z | 2026-01-27 17:44:25 | Although The Weight is low on excitement, it ends on an affecting note that makes you wish the sluggish movie had been given more lucid storytelling, as well as more dramatic and emotional power. |
| 244520 | Nick Schager | The Daily Beast | Fresh | — | 2026-01-27T06:23:45.000Z | 2026-01-27 06:23:45 | Electrifying a taut tale of tough times and the desperate men they breed, [Hawke] makes sure that, even when it could stand to be a tad weightier, this genre film packs a wallop. |
Showing the latest 100 canonical reviews for this movie.