Burden

Like Green Book, The Blind Side, The Soloist and so on, Burden fits too snugly into the white-saviour mode of storytelling. Which is a shame, because everyone involved here is doing their best in trying to craft layered characters with compelling agendas.

What is Burden teaching us or telling us about race in America that we don't already know from decades of history or decades of cinema?

"Burden" does a great job of giving the viewer a look at the lives of those in the KKK beyond their hatred, but it misses the mark on making an impact on the viewer.

"Burden" is a film of integrity, with something even better than a social conscience. It has a social purpose. If you see it, you'll learn something.

Writer and director Andrew Heckler has managed to make a powerful film, if not a very subtle one.

[Garrett Hedlund's] performance is 70 percent just him swaying back and forth. I never found him to be at all convincing.

...a film about Black suffering designed for white self-gratification.

Burden tries to leave viewers with a sense of hope from its good-hearted redemption story, and for some, it certainly will. But for others, its shortcomings will make it feel shallow and naïve.

Burden stumbles in choosing to put its spotlight on the wrong character.

Hedlund finds the perfect pace as Burden who has many emotional and cognitive issues to deal with.