The Weight (2026): Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe's survival drama, explained

Short answer: yes, there's a new movie called The Weight, and it's the one you've been hearing about. It's a 2026 Depression-era survival drama with Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and critics have been kind to it.

What it's about

It's Oregon, 1933. Hawke plays Samuel Murphy, a man who lands in a brutal work camp and gets separated from his young daughter. Crowe is Warden Clancy, the man running the place, and he dangles a deal: haul a load of gold through dangerous backcountry and Murphy goes free early. A crew of prisoners goes along, trust breaks down fast, and the question becomes how far a father will go to get home to his kid.

Watch it: The Weight (2026) Blu-ray on Amazon (Own the 94% Rotten Tomatoes survival drama that critics praised for its lean, tough storytelling)

Who made it

Padraic McKinley directed it. The cast also includes Julia Jones as a runaway who joins the convicts, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash and Sam Hazeldine. It's a German and American co-production and runs 113 minutes.

How it's been received

The film opened in the US on September 18, 2026. Reviews have been strong: 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 70 on Metacritic, which counts as generally favorable.

The Radazoid take

This is the kind of movie Hollywood used to make all the time and mostly quit making: a hard man, a hard place, a simple goal and nobody you can trust. Throw in a crooked warden and a fortune in gold and you've got a setup that would have felt right at home next to the westerns and prison-break pictures we rented on Friday nights.

Hawke has been quietly great for thirty years, and Crowe playing the heavy is worth the ticket by itself. If you like your dramas lean, mean and about a father who won't quit, put it on the list.