Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary!
by Alex Billington
June 25, 2026
Source: YouTube
“People get funny around gold…” Vertical has revealed the main official trailer for The Weight, one of my favorite films of 2026 so far. This visceral action thriller is set in the Oregon backwoods following a group of men transporting a ton of gold. The Weight premiered at the 2026 Sundance & Berlin Film Festivals earlier this year and my festival review is quoted on the official poster (seen below). When Samuel is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal prison, Warden Clancy offers him a high-stakes proposition: smuggle gold out of a remote mine with a dangerous crew of prisoners and he’ll win his freedom. The Weight is basically a remake William Friedkin’s classic Sorcerer, with a crazy scary bridge scene and all the same story beats, and it’s just as awesome as that movie. Just as intense, too! Don’t skip this movie –entirely worth a watch. Featuring some extraordinary cinematography shot by DP Matteo Cocco. The Weight stars Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, with Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen, Sam Hazeldine, and Avy Berry as Penny Murphy, Samuel’s daughter. This film really is a “rip-roaring survival thriller” and I can’t recommend it enough. A must see big screen treat when it hits theaters this September.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Padraic McKinley’s thriller The Weight, direct from YouTube:
Set in Oregon during the depths of the Great Depression, The Weight opens with Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) forcibly separated from his young daughter and sent to a remote labor camp where survival is a daily negotiation. When a warden (Russell Crowe) offers Murphy a chance at early freedom in exchange for a dangerous job smuggling gold through the wilderness, he sees it as a key step toward mending his broken family. The Weight is directed by editor / producer / filmmaker Padraic McKinley, making his feature directorial debut after directing some TV episodes previously, plus editing films and producing on “Kingdom”, “Debris”, “Ghosts of Beirut”. The screenplay is written by Matthew Booi & Shelby Gaines and Matthew Chapman; from a story by Matthew Booi & Leo Scherman & Matthew Chapman. Produced by Ryan Hawke, Simon Fields, Nathan Fields, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo. This initially premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (read our review). Vertical debuts McKinley’s The Weight film in select US theaters starting September 18th, 2026 coming up this year. What do you think? Who’s in?
