Overview
- The Depression‑era action‑drama debuted Jan. 26 at the Sundance Film Festival, drawing comparisons to 1960s–70s adventure films and early talk of distributor interest and awards potential.
- Set in 1933 Oregon, the story follows a father who accepts a corrupt warden’s gold‑smuggling mission in hopes of an early release and a reunion with his daughter.
- Reviewers singled out tense set pieces, including a frigid river gauntlet and a perilous rope‑bridge crossing, while praising Hawke’s largely word‑light, physical performance.
- Director Padraic McKinley completed the U.S./Germany production on a rapid timeline, with a six‑week shoot in Germany’s Bavarian forest and roughly four‑and‑a‑half months from pre‑production to picture lock.
- Hawke described the shoot as one of his hardest summers, emphasizing the film’s practical, human‑scale action; the cast includes Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amelio and Avi Nash, from a script by Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines.