Review of Burden (2018) by Kenr — 27 May 2021

Burden – Learning Life Lessons.

Had heard nothing about this movie but gave it a go and pleased I stayed with it. It’s a rough slog at times with its messy hand-held camera style and coarse language script, but obviously, the writer/ director felt this conveyed the message - as close to the facts the story is based on. Forest Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland) is highly impressive as the mid-1990s Baptist Reverend, earnestly out to prove that love is more powerful than hate. He offers safe shelter - in his own home, to a violent ex KKK member and family, inviting a serious situation with his own family as well as the town’s angry KKK citizens. First-time writer/director Andrew Heckler took on a difficult task with this serious subject and at times it shows but the message is certainly an important one. It’s quite interesting to see British Award winner, Tom Wilkinson as the nasty KKK leader - while also credited as one of the film’s producers! He obviously felt strongly about its racial themes. It features a strong music score and performances are uniformly good.