THE WEIGHT : Tuesday 22nd September 2026

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE WEIGHT' this week at my local independent movie theatre, and this German and American Co-Produced historical drama film is Directed and Co-Edited by Padraic McKinley in his feature film making debut. The film had its World Premiere screening at this years Sundance Film Festival in late January and had its International Premiere out of competition at the Berlin International Film Festival in mid-February. It was released in the US last week too, having garnered generally favourable critical reviews, and so far grossing US$2.5M.

The film opens with an aerial shot of a deserted gravel back road in Eugene, Oregon in 1933 - four years into the Great Depression. Driving down that road at almost break neck speed in Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) with his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) sat in the back seat whooping for joy while getting tossed around and urging her father to go faster. We then see the pair in their apartment later that night with Murphy attempting to darn a hole in a sock, and saying that he can fix motor cars, build an engine, and that he even made Penny, and that he can sure mend a hole in a sock, to which Penny retorts that she's not so sure. The next day or two and the pair climb the stairs to their apartment to find all their worldly possessions out on the landing and the lock changed - they have been evicted, and must find a new place to live. Later, down an alley way with Penny. while knocking on a prospective landlord’s door, three men approach, demand to know what they’re up to, and warn them against 'squatting'. The resultant confrontation quickly rises into an all out brawl. As it transpires one of the men Murphy punched was a plainclothes Policeman. The authorities place Penny in children's home and sentence her father to one year in the remote Deschutes County Convict Labor Camp, overseen by Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) - an imposing man who seems to relish in breaking down his prisoners spirits through intimidating, punishing, and by assigning tasks he knows are almost impossible.

Clancy then puts Murphy in charge of one such task - to remove a huge boulder that sits in the way of a road, and that needs to be cleared today, because tomorrow is Sunday, and the Warden has a baseball game planned for the prisoners versus the guards and the result is one game all, and if the boulder is not removed today then the prisoners forfeit the game and Clancy will not be happy, at all. Murphy surprises Clancy by taking charge and getting the job done with ingenuity, by using two pump up jacks, and getting two other prisoners to hammer two holes in the rock on opposite sides, and having them then insert the ends of their wooden pick axe handles into the holes and pushing with all their might. Eventually, the boulder moves, only slightly at first, but with momentum it is eventually shifted and rolled away. Watching Murphy successfully accomplish the task, Clancy realises he’s a good leader with many useful skills, who is a man of his word and gets the job done without fuss. 

So, after getting Murphy to fix up his Ford Model 18 which had several mechanical problems and which he had purloined from some criminal bootlegger who was now serving time, Clancy offers him a chance at freedom and getting his daughter back. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had recently set in motion a proclamation whereby in an attempt to slow down or even halt the currency deflation that was extending the Depression, his administration had decided to take the US off the gold standard, and began sending federal marshals around the country to withdraw gold held in vaults by the Federal Reserve Bank. Murphy will lead a team of three other trustworthy inmates to steal the gold bars kept at Klamath Falls gold mining camp deep in the forest before the Feds get their hands on them, then bring them to Clancy, who will divide them between himself and his partners. The drop off point is fifty miles away through dense forest terrain, and Murphy and his team have six days to make the rendezvous. For successfully completing the mission, Clancy will give the participating inmates early release papers dated to the day of their return with the gold. Murphy can hardly refuse the offer, as Penny will become a ward of the State in five months, long before his sentence ends.

And so the gang of four set out, having been giving their strict orders by Taggert (Alec Newman), who in no uncertain terms sets out his very clear expectations for their upcoming mission. There is Singh (Avi Nash) an Indian American socialist, Olson (Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen) a Scandinavian immigrant, Rankin (Austin Amelio) the bad apple of the group, and Anna (Julia Jones) an Indigenous runaway who was living at the mining camp, but decided to flee and hooks up with the gang after the fact and acts as their cook and medic. And then accompanying the group there are two of Clancy's armed foot soldiers who are loyal to the Warden, and are not afraid to throw their weight around - Letender (George Burgess) and Amis (Sam Hazeldine).

What follows is a series of action set pieces that put the group through their paces, that involve them traversing a rickety old rope bridge; a river crossing involving a log jam in which Murphy gets caught under; stealing a couple of boats belonging to a group of nefarious locals who seem determined to come between the group and their mission; and a brutal fist fight between Letender and Murphy. Needless to say it doesn't end well for two of the group. 

And so after six days battling the elements and each other, the remaining group make their rendezvous point ahead of time. They rest up for the night, and are greeted the next morning with three members of the group missing and Taggert having pulled up in his car waiting for the knapsacks full of gold bars to be loaded onto his vehicle. Singh and Amis are the only ones around, and Murphy appears out of the woods having just fought with Letender, who was strangled to death by Rankin. A shoot out follows in which Murphy guns down Amis, while Taggert makes off in his car laden with the gold bars. Murphy commandeers a passing US Government car which has a speed limiter of 35MPH, and so stops the car with little hope of catching up to Taggert. He opens up the hood, plays around with the engine and disengages the speed limiter, and so the chase is back on. Murphy catches up with Taggert and runs his vehicle off the road causing it to flip end over end down a steep embankment and coming to rest on its roof. 

Murphy, Anna, Singh and Rankin return to the work camp and confront Clancy. They have the gold in their possession but Murphy outlines how the deal is going to go down, saying that they are prepared to split the gold equally including a share for the Olson family and for him to take a share, in exchange for signing their release papers there and then, for his silence and for their silence in not revealing his complicity in the crime. And one other thing Murphy asks for - the vehicle that he fixed up for the Warden the previous week, and the registration papers to be signed over. The deal is done, and everyone walks away happy and content, and Murphy is reunited with Penny as they drive off at speed in their new car down the back roads of Oregon. 

For first time Director Padraic McKinley, he has delivered us a film with 'The Weight' that is a throw back to the movies of yesteryear with an all too relatable story, strong performances, beautiful scenery, some moments of tension and a thumping soundtrack. All kudos must go to the understated everyman performance of Ethan Hawke, who is light on dialogue but high on emotional facial expressions in this tale of stolen gold bullion and ne'er do well crims masquerading as upstanding law abiding citizens. Beautifully filmed, this is a movie for Dad's everywhere wanting to sit back and enjoy a confidently made historical survival thriller the like of which is all too thin on the ground these days. 

'The Weight' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 17th September 2026.

The 74th San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF) will take place this year from Friday 18th to Saturday 26th September in San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain. It is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain, and lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, 20kms (12 miles) from the French–Spanish border. Founded in 1953, it is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the 'competitive film festivals' category. 

This years Opening Night film presentation is 'Ghost Song', and this German fantasy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Faith Akin. Farasha (Mariam Dawoud) and Faris (Eren M. Guvercin), who meet at a graduation party when they are aged twenty and instantly fall in love. That same night, Farasha dies, but she finds a way to stay connected to Faris by entering his dreams. For forty nights, she visits him there, allowing their love to grow across two worlds until their final meeting.

Closing out the festival is the Belgian historical drama film 'Le Faux Soir' Co-Written and Directed by Michale R. Roskam. In November 1943, Belgian Resistance fighters launched a groundbreaking psychological warfare operation by publishing Faux Soir. They distributed a satirical replica of Le Soir, Belgium's leading daily newspaper, which had been seized as a tool of German propaganda. This audacious stunt widely recognised as history's first media hack aimed to humiliate the German occupiers and ignite public defiance. The parody newspaper electrified occupied Europe, providing a massive boost to civilian morale. 

This year there are seventeen films in the Official Competition, competing for the Golden Shell, presided over by American film maker Ira Sachs as Jury President and ably assisted by Brazilian Actress Alice Braga, Spanish Actress Patricia Lopez Arnaiz, Swedish Actor Bill Skarsgard, and British Producer and former Screen International Editor Mike Goodrich. Included in those seventeen film in the official selection are the following titles :-

* '5 More Minutes' - from Spain and this fantasy comedy film is Directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera. As a couple in crisis move to a house in the countryside to spend a weekend of rural tourism, they become trapped in a 5-minute time loop after the tourism company agent hands them the keys.

* 'The Bad Father' - from Spain, and this comedy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Roberto Bueso. Renowned writer and scholar Santiago Balmes reunites with his three children, long estranged from him after he left the family for another woman. He proposes them spending Christmas together in the old summer house, proving to be an opportunity to face past rifts.

* 'Brace Your Heart' - from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Bulgaria, this drama film is Written and Directed by Amanda Kernell. Set in a remote Sami (formerly known as Lapland) village in the mountains of Sweden, we follow twenty-year-old Ejva as she inherits her father's reindeer herd and fights to preserve the ancestral tradition entrusted to her.

* 'The Debut' - from the USA and this musical comedy film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed, stars and has songs written by Jesse Eisenberg. A shy woman is unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical. Under the spell of the 'strong-willed' and 'enigmatic' Director, she loses herself in the role of a community theatre production. Starring Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu and Bernadette Peters. 

* 'Ghost Song' - refer above Opening Night film presentation.

* 'Growth of the Soil' - from Norway, and this epic romantic drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Hans Petter Moland. A farmer seeks to build a life and start a family in the remote Norwegian wilderness.

* 'Milo' - from France and this comedy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Nicole Garcia. After leaving prison, Alice starts working as a waitress in a small cafeteria next to an auto repair garage. She befriends a young man named Milo, who works at the garage. Alice's real reason for getting close to the young man is deeply personal: Milo is her son. Starring Marion Cotillard, Theodore Pellerin, Laure Calamy and Charles Burling.

* 'Les Miserables' - from France and this action drama film is Written for the screen and Directed by Fred Cavaye. and is an adaptation of the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo. The film follows Jean Valjean who after nineteen years in prison, seeks redemption while being relentlessly pursued by Inspector Javert. Starring Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, Noemie Merlant, Camille Cottin and Benjamin Lavernhe. 

* 'On Behalf of My Son' - from Brazil, this drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Gabriel Martins. It follows Vicentina, a 75-year-old retired teacher who seeks out the families of victims after the death of her son Wesley in a bus accident in Belo Horizonte. 

* 'Saints' - from Spain and Italy, this drama film is Written and Directed by Mikel Gurrea. Set in the Sants neighbourhood in southern Barcelona, the plot follows Lali, a woman who after years drifting around the world returns to Barcelona to take care of her dying mother. She joins a group of thieves of religious figures. 

* 'Tender Loving Care' - from the UK, this comedy drama film is Written and Directed by Mike Leigh. Amy, a government child protection worker, moves back with her upbeat best friend Rosie, a social services officer facing daily anger and resentment. Amy's aging parents worry about her happiness while dealing with their own crisis.

In addition, the Donostia Honorific Awards this year are presented to the German film maker, Actor, Opera Director, author and documentarian Werner Herzog, and the British Actress Naomi Watts together with her latest film 'The Housewife' being screened as part of the awards ceremony. 

For the details of the other film strands being showcased including those Out of Competition, the New Directors, Latin Horizons, Perlak, and Made in Spain sections, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : http://www.sansebastianfestival.com

Turning the focus back to this weeks six new movies arriving at your local cinema this week, we launch with a historical drama film where desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness. This is followed by a horror offering in which a hapless courier tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital, soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive. Next we turn to an experimental road drama film that sees a sports photographer mysteriously vanish while documenting rural soccer fields across Georgia. Then we have a live action animated courtroom comedy that has ACME products failing him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Road Runner, and so Wile E. Coyote decides to hire a down-on-his-luck lawyer to sue the corporation. Following on there is a stop motion animated comedy horror film set on the eve of Halloween at Mossy Bottom Farm, where excitement turns to dismay when the clumsy Farmer ruins the pumpkin patch, and Shaun tries fixing it with science experiments, but things go wrong when a wild beast appears in the woods. And closing out the week, we have an animated fantasy adventure comedy that has two two best friends who become stranded on the mystical world of Nakali, where their only escape might cost them their shared lifetime of memories.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'THE WEIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - is a German and American Co-Produced historical drama film Directed and Co-Edited by Padraic McKinley in his feature film making debut. The film had its World Premiere screening at this years Sundance Film Festival in late January and had its International Premiere out of competition at the Berlin International Film Festival in mid-February. It is released in the US this week too, having garnered generally favourable critical reviews.

In Oregon in 1933, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is torn from his daughter Penny (Avy Berry) and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) tempts him with early release and a cleared record if he smuggles gold out of a remote mine through one hundred miles of unforgiving wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he’ll go to see his child again. Also starring Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, George Burgess, Alec Newman and Sam Hazeldine. 

'RESIDENT EVIL' (Rated MA15+) - this horror film is Co-Written and Directed by Zach Cregger who made his feature film debut with 'Miss March' in 2009 and which he would follow up with the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'Barbarian' in 2022 and 'Weapons' in 2025. This film is the second reboot and eighth film overall in the Resident Evil film series, and is based on Capcom's 'Resident Evil' video game franchise. Those first seven films in the series grossed a combined Box Office haul of US$1.28B off the back of total production budgets of US$313M. The film follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier in the process of making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital, who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival against bloodthirsty mutated creatures as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. Also starring Zach Cherry, Paul Walter Hauser and Kali Reis. It will have its Premiere showcasing at Fantastic Fest on 17th September and is released here in Australia and the USA this week, having cost US$80M to produce.

'DRY LEAF' (Rated PG) - is a German and Georgian experimental road film that is Written, Co-Produced, Directed, photographed and Edited by Alexandre Koberidze in his third feature film offering following his debut in 2017 with 'Let the Summer Never Come Again', and then 'What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?' in 2021. Here, when Lisa, a young photographer, disappears, her father Irakli (David Koberidze) decides to search for her. He sets off on a journey through Georgia with her best friend Levani (Otar Nijaradze), an invisible person, as Lisa had recently been photographing football stadiums across the country. As the landscape passes by and they travel from one football stadium to the next, the people and their stories change, and with each football pitch and village, the chances of finding Lisa diminish. The film had its World Premiere in the main competition at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival in mid-August last year where it won the Special Mention prize, and since then it has appeared in many film festivals, and most recently at the Melbourne International Film Festival earlier last month. The film has garnered largely positive critical reviews.

'COYOTE VS. ACME' (Rated PG) - is an American animated live action courtroom comedy film Directed by Dave Green in only his third feature Directorial outing following his debut in 2014 with 'Earth to Echo' and 2016's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Out of the Shadows'. After more years than you care to remember of being blown to bits by bombs, detonated by dynamite, mangled by magnets, beaten by boulders, trampled by trains, tricked by tunnels, sprung by springs, steamrolled by steamrollers, maligned by misfires, rattled by rockets and rocket skates, upended by unicycles, quaked by quake pills, rubberised by rogue bands, and hurled headlong off every cliff in the Southwest, Wile E. Coyote finally fights back. Teaming up with billboard accident lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte), he takes on slick corporate counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) and ACME, Inc., the profit-obsessed conglomerate behind every one of the Coyote's chaotic catastrophes. Also starring Lana Condor, Tone Bell, Martha Kelly, Luis Guzman, P.J. Byrne, and Kenneth Choi plus the voice talents of Eric Bauza as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, The Road Runner and Tweety amongst others. The film was released in the US at the end of August, has garnered positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$66M from a production budget of US$70M. 

'SHAUN THE SHEEP : THE BEAST OF MOSSY BOTTOM' (Rated G) - this British stop motion animated comedy horror film is Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker and is based on the Aardman Animation television series 'Shaun the Sheep', itself a spin-off of the 'Wallace & Gromit' short film from 1995, 'A Close Shave'. This film is the third in the franchise following 2015's 'Shaun the Sheep Movie' and 2019's 'A Shaun the Sheep Movie : Farmageddon'. Those first two films grossed a total of US$149M at the global Box Office off the back of combined production budgets of US$50M. During the lead up to Halloween on the Mossy Bottom farm, the Farmer (voiced by John Sparkes) accidentally destroys his sheep flock's pumpkin patch. Shaun (voiced by Justin Fletcher) becomes a mad scientist to fix the problem, but circumstances worsen subsequently, as the Farmer goes missing and a wild beast is found roaming the woods of Mossingham. The film is released this week too in the UK.

'FORGOTTEN ISLAND' (Rated PG) - is an American animated fantasy adventure comedy film Written and Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, and Produced by DreamWorks Animation. Joel Crawfords previous two Directed animated features are 'The Croods : A New Age' in 2020 and 'Puss In Boots : The Last Wish' in 2022. Here, set in the Philippines during the 1990's two childhood friends, Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), promise to remain close forever. After graduating high school, Raissa prepares to move to the USA for college at the urging of her parents. Fearing the loss of their bond, Jo tries to persuade her to stay. However, the two are suddenly transported through a portal to the fantastical world of the forgotten island of Nakali, where memories gradually fade the longer one remains. Also starring the voice talents of Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Lae Salonga, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy and Ronny Chieng. The film is released Stateside next week.

With six new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-