Depression-era movie 'The Weight' packs a metaphor, says its star Ethan Hawke

The film is set during the Great Depression in 1933 Oregon

Cast member Ethan Hawke attends the premiere of 'The Weight' at the 76th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb 17, 2026. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben

Padraic McKinley's directorial debut feature film "The Weight" has, like any great title, a metaphor to it, Oscar-nominated Ethan Hawke said at the Berlin Film Festival, and as such you can make of it what you like.

But the 55-year-old American actor said that for him it represented the weight of love - what you are willing to do for it and how you're willing to put that into action.

"That's what I could really relate to," he said, nodding to men in his life growing up that he admired and to people who took care of him.

"I just wanted to try to put that care into performance and to do something that was not intellectual but visceral."

McKinley's high-suspense, atmospheric drama is set in Oregon in 1933. With the effects of the Great Depression in full swing, US President Franklin D Roosevelt has ordered citizens to surrender any privately held gold.

Resourceful Samuel Murphy (Hawke) is separated from his daughter after he is arrested and is sent to a brutal work camp. Here Warden Clancy (Russell Crowe) entices him with the prospect of early release if he smuggles gold through miles of treacherous wilderness.

McKinley said the title of the film, running in the Berlin Film Festival's Special category, has a double meaning - the backpacks filled with heavy gold bars the convicts carry and the pressure of a father in Murphy's position.

The title does not appear until 12 minutes into the movie - after Murphy's daughter is taken away from him - which McKinley said was a deliberate decision.

The film was inspired by Hawke's and McKinley's love for 1970s action movies, such as 1977's "Sorcerer", which Hawke described as embodying honour and dignity, fighting for one's beliefs and taking care of others.

At its core, "The Weight" is about a group of people who think they are different from each other, but still band together to fight institutional greed, in the process finding out they have more in common than previously thought, said Hawke. "And that's worth fighting for."