Watch Ethan Hawke Break Down the Classic Adventure Movies That Inspired ‘The Weight’

Padraic McKinley’s “The Weight” is a throwback to a bygone era of moviemaking, starring Ethan Hawke as a man on a mission to escape a work camp in 1930s Oregon and reunite with his daughter. It’s filled with viscerally thrilling set pieces that look far more expensive than they actually are, providing retro adventure thrills on an indie scale.

Ahead of the film‘s Sundance premiere, McKinley and stars Ethan Hawke, Julia Jones, and Austin Amelio visited the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox, to break down the influences that shaped one of the festival’s most exciting films.

“It’s an old-school adventure movie,” McKinley said of the film. “It’s got a lot of heart, and hopefully it’s a throwback to the kind of movies we all liked, analog action-adventure films.”

Hawke echoed those sentiments, explaining that he wanted to make a film about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

“I love what Pat just said, it’s analog,” Hawke said. “It’s not an action movie full of superhumans, it’s an action movie full of humans going through really human situations. It’s very simple. It’s the kind of action movie I grew up loving, and we challenged ourselves to see if we could make one that simple and that classic.”

Which specific movies inspired McKinley and the team? Hawke provided a list of adventure classics and character-driven dramas, citing the work of filmmaking masters like William Friedkin and John Huston and legendary leading men Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.

“‘Sorcerer’ is one we love to mention, but ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre,’ there’s aspects of ‘Cool Hand Luke.’ I always loved that Newman/McQueen action hero that was a real person, character-driven drama. A guy who doesn’t need to say too much, but gets things done.”

You can watch IndieWire’s complete conversation with the team behind “The Weight” in the video above.