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Screens Saturday November 14 – 5:00pm (+ intro), Thursday, November 19 – 9:00pm, Saturday November 21 – 7:00pm, and Sunday November 22 – 1:00pm“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.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
Saturday, November 14th screening will be preceded by an introduction from Must-Watch Indies programmer and film critic Marya E. Gates.
A classic noir-stained action-adventure in the style of John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, Padraic McKinley’s directorial debut The Weight features an unforgettable turn from Ethan Hawke as a Depression era father who will stop at nothing to get his daughter back.
Separated from his daughter Penny (Avy-Berry Worrall) after a mishap with the police, World War I veteran and widower Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) finds himself in a convict labor camp run by a hard-as-nails Warden (Russell Crowe). Soon Murphy’s engineering know-how gets him caught up in a scheme to transport backpacks full of gold bars across the forests of Oregon for the Warden and his business partner Taggert (Alec Newman) before a new presidential order takes effect. In exchange, the Warden will sign early release papers so Murphy can reunite with his beloved daughter.
Thrilling as a straight-forward action thriller, the film also layers in commentary about capital and labor, and the American West’s lingering legacy of racism towards its indigenous populations and the Asian immigrants who helped build its infrastructure. Anchored by a tremendous performance from Ethan Hawke, The Weight brings an old fashioned genre thoroughly into the twenty-first century.
The Weight made its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and also screened at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival.
Padraic McKinley, 112 mins, USA, Germany, France, 2026, DCP, English
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Event venue
FACETS, 1517 W Fullerton Ave,Chicago,IL,United States
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